Resurrection
by White Firebird
Summary: Love. Hate. Anger. Loss. Depression. Coming of age. Re-uniting. Never telling someone how you feel will kill you inside. Evil is resurrected and the fight is on again. Angel Grove will never be the same.
1. Coming Together Again

Author Note: I do not own any of the characters involved in this story. Disney owns the Power Rangers, but they shouldn't because they won't release it on DVD. Any characters that seem new are new, and I do own them. Anything that is like another story you've read is purely coincidental. Thank you for taking the time to read this and thank you for any reviews and the like.

_Centuries ago, after a lengthy battle against the United_

_Alliance Of Evil, a legendary interdimensional being known as Zordon_

_was lured and trapped in a time warp. With Zordon no longer being tied_

_to the physical world and the war over, he came to the city of Angel_

_Grove, to establish a command center in the event that the evil were to_

_be let into the world once more._

_With the aid of his trusted assistant, Alpha 5, the noble master sought_

_out five extraordinary teenagers when the evil resurfaced, and gave_

_them the power to transform into a superhuman fighting force. For a_

_short time, the five fought off the hordes of evil, until a new evil came_

_in the form of one of their own. After nearly losing everything, the_

_prophecy was fulfilled, and the six teenagers made a nearly_

_unbeatable team. But soon, the evil would strip the powers of the_

_sixth, leaving the team to cope with their loss._

_In time of great need, the young heroes could use their powers to call_

_upon colossal assault vehicals known as Zords. Together, their Zords_

_would defeat the evil. After having the sixth come back and lose his_

_powers for good at the hands of a newer, more powerful evil, coupled_

_with the loss of three of the teenagers, three new teenagers were_

_chosen to replace them, and the former who had lost his powers came_

_back with new, more astounding powers than before. But before long,_

_the teenagers lost everything again, and were in need of help._

_Setting out to find the new, great power, the teenagers endured many_

_hardships as they became one with their new spirits, the power now_

_back in their hands. With the departure of one more teenager and a_

_new replacement, the power seemed intact for good. But unfortunatly,_

_the teenagers were reverted back to their childhoods, and set out to_

_find a new power to replace their old ones, which were once again_

_destroyed. Upon finding the new power and returning to their teenage_

_states, tragedy struck once more, as the command center exploded,_

_the teenagers at a safe distance away, while Alpha and Zordon_

_remained. While Zordon and Alpha were alive in the new chamber_

_below the ruins of the old command center and their new powers lived_

_on, the memory of their origins remained forever embedded in their_

_minds._

_Many years later, after the first generation of teenagers had moved on_

_with their collective lives, new teenagers with new powers had taken_

_over the duty of protecting the universe, even without Zordon's help,_

_as he was captured by the evil forces and held prisoner against his will._

_After much searching, the new teenagers found Zordon located in_

_space, and sought out to find him. But as they tried to do so, a huge_

_war broke out amongst all the good and evil forces all over the_

_planets. After the evil had nearly taken over the universe, the leader of_

_the new teenagers had no choice but to obey Zordon's orders; shatter_

_his energy tube, thus killing him. By doing so, the good energy from_

_his tube effectively killed all the evil in this universe, and purified those_

_evil spirits that had been human before, back to their human states._

_The evil had been defeated once and for all. Or so originally thought._

_Many years after the events of Zordon's death, Angel Grove is still_

_recovering from everything that ravaged the city over the course of all_

_those battles. But now, something terrible has gone wrong, and evil_

_has managed to resurface in Angel Grove all over again._

_The identity of the teenagers has forever remained a_

_guarded secret. Today, that tradition continues on..._

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Angel Grove, California. Present Time.

It's an unusually quiet day in the suburbs of Angel Grove. Perhaps it's because the weather is getting hotter, and all the beach bums are making a rush for the ocean and sand. Kids are out on the streets playing whiffle ball, kickball, hopscotch, four squares, freeze tag, the works, while the ice cream truck would come by every hour and a half to replenish the kids energy while they played away. Other than that though, everything was a thing of silence, peace and serenity. As we venture to one of the near deserted streets, Anderson Drive, the array and variety of houses is stunning in comparison to those on other streets in the area. All of the houses look well furnished, well polished, as if some bigwig was living in them. And while they all looked like they were of importance, the one that stood out of them all was the house numbered 280.

The house was rather mansion-like on the outside in terms of appearance. It had big, swinging metal gates at the front of the driveway, with a fountain in front, two gargoyles spouting water out of their mouths. The front lawn was the size of two football fields, and the house itself was the size of most sky scrapers. Venturing inside, however, it hardly gave off the impression it's outside did. Everything is as normal as can be inside. Nothing fancy, nothing flashy, nothing that screamed "arrogant rich boy", unless you consider the fact that the entire place was spotlessly clean. But you wouldn't know that it belonged to someone famous until you walked downstairs, where the real fun lied.

Everywhere you looked, all that could be seen was test tubes, beakers, racks, weird-looking chemicals, plastic goggles, large books, trays, all of it in relation to the fine art of science. And in the middle of it all stood a man with the ability to change it all. In his mind, the man had the will-power to make major economic changes with the snap of a finger. And that, he thought, was much, much better than what he used to do for a living.

In the middle of it all was the man known as Ed Tillman, a man with one of the best scientific minds this side of Einstein, if not better. And while Ed loved what he was doing, he still couldn't shake the feeling of what he had done in his previous years. The metallic silver staff he kept in a glass display case, tucked away in the corner of his lab, reminded him of what he once was, but not by choice. But Ed did his best to ignore it. Besides...

He was saving the world.

Ed Tillman: Now if I take this chemical over here and mix it together with this compound, I may be able to quicken the solution and make it more effective...Ah ha! This may be the one that I was looking for earlier! What was I thinking? Perhaps I wasn't thinking conciously at all, perhaps I was thinking in an unconcious state! Who knows! All I know is that this work is going to benefit the greater good! I love it!

As Ed continued to work on whatever it was he was working on, he made his way over to the refridgerator he had down in his lab, over to grab some dry ice. But as he reaches into the freezer to grab the ice, he comes across the staff in the case, staring at it with a tinge of disbelief in his eyes. He also happened to glance over two rather large jars that he kept next to the staff, one jar painted a shiny gold color, the other painted half skeleton white, half camoflauge. Ed blinked as the memories came back to him like a tidal wave out in the ocean located a few blocks away from his house. Sighing deeply, Ed shook his head as he bit his lip and looked down at his feet.

Ed Tillman: Oh, how I do sort of miss those days, living way up there, being who I was and being married to the only woman who ever understood me. And come to think of it, I do somewhat miss those two idiots constantly being at my beck and call. If I told them to jump off of a cliff without teleporting back to the Chamber of Command near the end of the fall, they would have done it. Those days, while a distant memory and something I'd like to not remember...they sure had their fun moments. It's a good thing I managed to find the staff and their ashes...just for "safe keeping." Lord knows what would happen if these artifacts fell into the wrong hands...

Angel Grove, California. City Limits. Present Time.

The sun is beating down on the outskirts of Angel Grove. The sand is filtering through the air, tumbleweeds are seen rolling along, and the air is hot. It looks like a normal desert on the outskirts of Angel Grove...but then again, knowing all of the history that lies at the feet of Angel Grove...nothing is normal. And then it happens.

A light in the sky appears, like a comet or a shooting star. It appears to be hurtling towards the desert, and it is. Suddenly, like an unknown grenade, the meteor-like object crashes into the ground, materializing on the sandy ground. But contrary to what was originally thought, this is no mere meteor. It's no mere space rock. It's a robot.

It's head is gold, shaped like an inflated hockey puck. His visor consists of red lights that blink when he would speak. His body is of metal and hard plastic components with gold shoulder pads, a red torso with a inverted lightning bolt symbol that would constantly be lighting up, along with many knobs and buttons that must of had some relation to it's internal systems. A disc drive can be seen on the back of the robot, and the rest of it's body, the legs and feet, are made up of gold, blue and red metal. As the robot stood up and gathered itself, it spoke out in the voice reminiscent of a five year old child.

This lost little robot was home.

Alpha 5: Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi! What a trip! I haven't traveled that fast in almost a millenia! Whatever though, it sure beats normal space travel...

Alpha 5, the robot and faithful assistant to the legendary wizard and interdimensional being, Zordon of Eltar, was back where he came so many years ago. Angel Grove. The ground he stood on was considered his second home, his first being the planet Edenoi, where he was created and constructed by King Lexian and his assistants. But ever since Zordon had taken him in as a little robot and subsequently moved to Earth to set up their operations, Alpha always had a soft spot for Angel Grove in his neurons. As Alpha walked around the mountain top, he looked a bit confused as to where he landed.

Alpha 5: Hmm...this should be the exact same spot where it once stood...ah ha! I think I've got it! This patch of sand and gravel...the patterns look like they used to! Now if I could just find where the outer south wall once stood...

Alpha walks around the sand patch, reaching out with his hands as if he was trying to grab something out of the air. After walking around in an oval for a few minutes, his head bumped into something hard, but nothing was there. Just air, more sand and a few rocks here and there. But Alpha knew he was onto something.

Alpha 5: Yes! I knew I still had it under the cloaking device I put in place during the huge war between Astronema and the Space Rangers...I just knew that it hadn't been touched since the last time I was here! And now, to uncloak it...

Alpha then steps a few feet back and snaps his fingers, a tracking device of sorts materializing into his glove. Alpha, with the glee of a thousand robots, clicked the large button in the middle of the device, and suddenly, the ground began to shake around him. Normally, the seismic rumblings going on right now would cause the citizens of Angel Grove to think that an earthquake is happening. That or some giant, 230 foot high monster was attacking the city again. But that wasn't the case this time. As the ground shook and rattled, Alpha stood in awe at what stood before him, even though he was the one that rebuilt it in the first place. The sight of the completed project was just a thing of beauty. Finally, the ground stopped shaking and whatever it was that was being uncloaked was finally revealed. Alpha couldn't of been more proud.

What stood before him was something thought to be long forgotten.

What stood before him was the Command Center.

Alpha 5: Well, time to go back to work...

Back to work indeed, Alpha.

280 Anderson Drive. Five minutes later.

Ed Tillman: Enough of dwelling on the past. I'm better than that! Besides, this new creation will benefit so many people, I might finally win that elusive Nobel Peace Prize! After getting rid of most pollution and cutting back on the death of the ozone layer, I'll be even more famous than I already am! And now, I must test this serum here to see if the counter-active particles in the concoction will function properly...

Ed then takes a beaker filled with some funky looking purple liquid and pours it into a sink filled with weird plants and vegetables. As he does so, the vegetables and plants look to be growing more and more healthy, rather than deteriorate like they used to whenever he tried this out. A smile creeps across Ed's lips as he watches them grow and prosper before his very eyes. As he goes to rinse out the beaker and dry it, he makes eye contact with the staff and the two jars. He stares at them for a few good moments before shaking his head and focussing on the task at hand. But after a few more moments of cleaning, he finds himself looking back at the objects that best define his past life. He can't get his eyes off of them.

Ed Tillman: I do wonder what it would be like to relive all of that. The power, the force, the woman of my dreams, and all the minions I could ever think of having work for me. It'd be a ride, that's for sure. I wonder if those two would be able to adapt to the new century and all, being that they've been in that state for so many years...I wonder if they'd be of any use to me. Who knows. But as much as I'd like to go back down that path, even for a little bit, I promised myself that I would never. But as for those two...I could use some help around here...why not.

Ed then places everything in his hands down on the table and walks over towards the corner in his laboratory, siezing the two jars in his hands and walking over towards an empty work bench and dropping the jars onto the table, opening them and looking inside at the ashes of what remains from his past. Snapping a pair of rubber gloves on and sliding some goggles over his eyes, Ed looks like he's ready to go to work.

Ed Tillman: If I do what I plan on doing, then it's gonna take quite a bit of time...I best get to work so that I can have these two back to life and helping me by the end of the week!

Ed then picks up a pair of tongs, some dry ice and an unknown liquid, and dives head first into his work.

Five hours later...

It's now the late afternoon, around 7:15 pacific time. After working nonstop for five hours straight, Ed finally puts down his goggles and takes his gloves off, staring at what lies in front of him on his work bench; two vials with a purple-ish violet colored liquid in them, and the two opened jars of ashes. Ed smiles devilishly as he takes a minute to catch his breath and admire his work.

Ed Tillman: I am the master of sciences! With this piece of work that rest before me, not only will it bring those two bumbling idiots back to life, but after being brought back into the realm of the living, those two will slowly begin to lose their less-than-favorable features...and they will become human, just like I am right now! And now, I must begin the...preperations...

Before Ed can begin the final part in his plan to bring his sidekicks back to life, he catches another longing glimpse of the metallic silver staff resting in it's glass display case, where the jars once rested. He stares at it as if he's expecting it to grow legs and arms and walk over to him. It's power is dead, but he just wonders what it would be like to be able to wield it once more. He looks down at the jars and sighs. He was being a bad boy today.

Ed Tillman: You know, now that I really think about it...I do really imagine what it'd be like to go through the metamorphosis once more. To feel my veins be filtered with powerful energies. To feel alive. Oh my, I'm being a bad little mad scientist today..I swear, I'll make a temporary potion, and the change will only last a few hours, I promise that to myself...Here we go, boys! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!

Once more, Ed begins to dive head first into his work, but this time, the work would be far more tragic and would end up with a result that would be catastrophic. But Ed wasn't able to tell the future. He was just too concerned with wanting to feel the rush of energy flow through his blood stream like a river. He didn't care about the repercussions.

He just wanted to feel alive again.

Five hours later...

cAfter working nonstop for another five hours straight, Ed wipes away some of the sweat on his forehead, peeking out at the night skies, the stars illuminating the pitch black ceiling, the moon far off in the distance. It was about midnight, so it was the dawn of a new day, so to speak. As Ed takes a deep breath, he picks up a few liquids in separate vials (not knowing that he picked up one that doesn't belong anywhere near the potion he intends to drink), and looks at them through loving, crazed eyes.

Ed Tillman: Boys, this is it. Just a few drops of each of you into the potion, let it settle for a minute or two, and then I'll be back to what I once was for a few hours. Hoo boy, this is going to be great!

As Ed begins to drop the liquids into the potion he is to drink, suddenly, out of nowhere, a small earthquake-like tremor shakes the foundation of everything on the ground, and Ed, not knowing what to do, tries to prevent the potion from falling onto the ground.

But he accidentally drops the one liquid into the potion that doesn't belong. Instead of being blue (which was good), the potion turned as black as the skies outside (which was bad). Something was about to happen. And it wasn't going to be anything that Ed expected it to be.

Ed Tillman: Hmm, that's rather odd, if I do say so myself. I don't think that the potion was supposed to be colored black. If anything, I thought it was supposed to be colored blue. Hm. And now the lightning, thunder and rain. Must be some indifferent weather patterns coming our way. Oh well, it won't bother me, I'll be doing something I shouldn't...I really am a bad little mad scientist, aren't I? Well...

Ed takes a quick glance at the two open jars and lifts the vial containing the potion into the air, as if it were a wine glass and he was giving a toast. He smiles as he puts the vial to his lips.

Ed Tillman: Here's to you, boys...

As the thunder and lightning continue to crash and illuminate the skies, and as the rain continues to pour down like tears from heaven, Ed takes a deep breath, and then knocks back the potion in one fell swoop. At first, nothing seemed to happen, which brought a frown to Ed's face. But suddenly, he felt a kick in his abdomen, as the potion made it's way down his esophagus and into his stomach walls. Something wasn't feeling right, Ed thought to himself. But for the time being, everything was still okay.

And then he felt his arms go numb. Wondering what the hell was happening, Ed tried reaching for the reversion potion, but his limp arms wouldn't respond to his mind and they just sat there as he frantically tried to reach for it. He felt a tingling go up his spine and into his head, and then he knew something wasn't right for sure. He felt his body spaz uncontrollably, as if he was going into an epileptic fit of sorts, a massive seizure.

As his body does this, Ed desperatly tries once more to reach for the reversion potion, but finally, his body stopped fighting the feeling that was coming on, and he collapsed and fell into an unconcious state, blood trickling out of his mouth, his eyes wide open and glazed over like a donut. Thunder and lightning continued to crash and thrash outside in Angel Grove. And for good reason.

The dark lord of all evil was back.

280 Anderson Drive. The next day.

The sun was beginning to rise over Angel Grove, California. Birds were chirping, families were beginning to make their morning commute to work, and kids were talking about the latest episode of South Park, or some other crazy animated show that was on television last night. On the surface, nothing seemed to be wrong in this part of Angel Grove. But that was just the surface. Beneath it, something was grumbling.

And it sure was hungry.

Ed Tillman: Auuurghhh, auuu...ughh...what...what happened to me...Auuuruugh...I feel so...different...like some sort of...energy is...filtering throughout my entire...body...auuuu...ohhhhhh...I need to...see if...anything has...happened...

Struggling to gain balance, Ed crawls across the floor and reaches up with his right hand, trying to find something to grab hold of. After searching for a few seconds, he manages to get a grip on the edge of one of his work benches. Mustering up any strength left within his body, he drags himself to his knees, where he's able to (with great struggle) get to his feet, shaking his head. Immidiately, he realizes that something is up. Normally he'd be able to feel his hair wave back and forth a little when shaking his head. He felt no such thing. And his voice sounded deeper, not to mention his breaths seemed effortless almost. His mouth and jaw felt nearly nonexistant, as if it were replaced by some steel plating instead. He felt powerful, first and foremost though. As Ed reached up to touch his hair, he felt no hair follicles. Instead, he felt something mushy, something that he was able to poke and squish with his finger. He felt a hot liquid run down his finger as he did so, and he quickly retracted his finger. Stumbling towards the mirror he had down in the lab, his eyes could have widened if he even had eyes anymore. He let out a deep bellowed scream.

His hair had been replaced by his bare brain. There was a silver, metal plated crown of sorts with a faceplate covering his face. His eyes were replaced with a crimson-tinted visor, and his mouth and jaw had been replaced with said steel plate. In the middle of the crown was a raised bar of sorts, a 'Z' at the very top of it. His entire body was muscular in the sense that he looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Metal plating surrounded his body, keeping the bare muscles intact and from falling apart. His hands were covered with the steel plating, his fingers the only part of them that weren't covered with it, but his fingertips were encased in a hard steel shell. Gone were his feet, replaced with steel and more muscle. Tubes, obviously representing his veins, surrounded the steel and pumped toxins into his system. Ed looked on in utmost horror at what he had become again.

No longer was he Ed Tillman, world renouned scientist.

He was now something that he wanted to forget about.

He was the emperor of all evil once more.

Lord Zedd...was back.

Ed Tillman: Oh, God...how...how did this...I feel so...wrong...I shouldn't...I can't...the reversion potion! I need to drink it! I can't stand feeling like this! This is horrible! I don't want this anymore! No!

His fear heightened with each deep breath taken, Ed spins around to begin his frantic search for the reversion potion to turn himself back to who he is, Ed Tillman. Noticing the orange liquid sitting by itself in one of the vials, he lunged forward for it, grabbed it with his cold, metal plated hand and nearly crushed the vial with the force of his grip. Knocking his head back and splashing the orange liquid over his visor and breathing vent, Ed had hoped to feel a reaction just as quickly as he did last night when the change originally occurred. But after downing the entire thing and waiting a good minute or two, Ed felt nothing but the same. He felt toxins and poisons filtering throughout him. But he felt no good going through his tubes. He felt no noteworthy change. He just felt status quo. And he felt another thing.

He felt like he was losing control. Part of him, however small it was, was fighting the change. But he was losing the fight. The toxins and poisons were rapidly filtering through the tubes and into his body. He was losing his grip on his sense of truthfulness and goodness within him...and it was quickly changing to that of indecency and pure evil.

And the sick thing of it all...he was beginning to like it.

Ed Tillman: No...no...it can't be...not like this! That tremor last night, I think I remember! Something must...have been dropped in the potion, something that...didn't belong...This...no...it's gaining control...I can feel it! I can't...no! No! It's stopping me! It's taking over my thoughts and my controls! No, I can't...can't let...take...control...

Ed then fell to his knees, his breaths deep, pounding his fists on the floor, his head buried in his hands. And instead of wondering what was happening to him and screaming...he began to chuckle. Sadistically. After chuckling like that for a few moments, the last remnants of Ed Tillman were wiped away when the orange liquid, the reversion potion, was seen leaking out of the holes in his breathing vent. The chuckling stopped. Now it was a full blown evil laughter.

The silver staff exploded out of the case it had been closed in, and gravitated towards Ed's outstretched hand. It glowed a blue hue, with white bolts of electricity slithering up and down the staff, illuminating the giant 'Z' on the top of it.

Ed Tillman was gone forever.

Lord Zedd, emperor of all evil...was here to stay.

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

London, England. Present Time. One Day After Resurrection.

There was a fair amount of fog today in London, but that was the norm as far as the residents in Oakwell Court went. Oakwell Court was a nice little community with people who generally seemed happy about life and what it threw at them. They always had smiles on their faces, always seemed to be in good spirits, and were always willing to lend a helping hand to those in the court whenever necessary. The same could be said about the first person we are focussing on here. For a female, she was rather tall, taller than most of the women she met and knew. Her long blonde hair, put together in a pony tail underneath her black fedora hat, swayed back and forth as the heels on her boots clicked on the cobblestone pathway towards her apartment. This woman's body emotions showed that of a woman who was just looking forward to getting back home and seeing the man and friends that she loved. But for now, this would do, getting to see London in person. As she began to untie the knot on her jacket, she checked her mailbox for any letters from her fiance back in the States, or anything else such as bills, etc. Nope, nothing today. Digging into her purse, the woman grabs her house key and sticks it into the keyhole, twisting the key to open the door, gently pushing it open as she steps inside and slowly closes it behind her.

Putting her purse down on her bed as she walked in, the woman also put her coat on a nearby chair. Sighing as she slumped down on the edge of the bed, this woman's day had been a busy affair.

Not that it was anything different to one Katherine Hilliard. She was quite used to being busy all of the time.

Katherine Hilliard: Oh my, what a day it was indeed. The sights here never get old. Ah, time to just rest up and begin packing for my trip home in two days. Tomorrow's the last day I have to admire everything before it's back to the sunny skies of California.

Kat's thick, heavy Australian accent was one of the things that made her all the more attractive and interesting to her friends and her fiance, not to mention that she was an easy going, calm woman as opposed to her predecessor. Ahh, her predecessor. She had fond memories of that gal.

Katherine Hilliard: Sure has been a long time since any of us have kept in touch with her. Wonder how she's doing. Wonder how my man's doing with the other guys back at the dojo. Whoo, I'm just glad to be back and being able to lie down on the bed here, today was extremely draining. Wait a tic, what's this here?

Sitting upright at the sight of something peculiar, Kat lifts herself off the bed, eyes fixated on something taped to the freezer door of the refridgerator. It was a coffee colored note with her name typed out in the middle in block lettering. Grabbing it off the door and opening it, Kat begins to read aloud the contents of the note.

Katherine Hilliard: "Dear Ms. Hilliard. Your presence is sincerely requested, along with your group of close friends, inside of the Angel Grove High School gymnasium and auditorium on June 22nd at 8:00 PCT, sharp. Tell nobody but your friends about this. Thank you for your compliance."

"What's this all about?", thought Kat. She hadn't seen this note when she first walked into the room, she was sure of it. But after a moment of letting it settle in, she thought to herself and then came to a conclusion, a grin emerging across her lips as she places the note on the table and begins to speak to...someone within her mind?

Katherine Hilliard: "Very cute, mate. I take it you and your two buddies are the reason I'm in possesion of this note, huh?"

Kat heard nothing but laughter from within her mind, but it wasn't her girlish giggle that we were used to hearing. It sounded deep and bellowing, like a man's laughter. She couldn't help but giggle a little bit as she listened to the man's hearty laugh echo within her mind, as she closes off the telepathic link to him and looked at the note once more, another smile on her lips as she rummaged through the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water, opening it and sipping it as she sat back down on the bed, lying flat on her back, holding the note up in the air as she scanned it.

Katherine Hilliard: Nope, it was them. It's harmless nature leads me to believe that this isn't any joke of any sort, and that it's serious. He probably got a good kick out of that, spooking me a bit with this note. Well mate, it takes a lot to spook me, considering what I've been through. But I wouldn't miss this for the world...whatever it is.

As Kat put the note down on a nearby dresser, she looked out the window at the skies, the sun bowing down behind the foggy clouds, it's pinkish rays causing specks of gold shadows to form on the floor. The grin on her face had dissapeared when she saw the pink in the skies. She was catching herself thinking of her old, old friend and their pasts together. A tiny teardrop forming on her eyelid, she wiped it away as she turned her attention to the ceiling, speaking to herself aloud as she stared at it.

Katherine Hilliard: I just hope that she's doing alright, where ever she is. It'd be nice to see her along with everyone else at this thing, if that's what the note is implying. Lord knows that you know who would love to be in the same room as her again. It's been quite a while and he's still taking it pretty hard. Hmm, oh well...I guess we'll just have to wait and see, now won't we, Kitty Kat?

She managed a simple smirk at calling herself by the nickname given to her by her fiance back home. Standing upright once more and grabbing the remote control to the TV, she flicked on the telly to catch up on the current events, her mind wavering only to think about this meeting on the 22nd of June.

"I wonder what it's all about?"

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Planet Of Aquitar. Present Time. Two Days After Resurrection.

The planet of Aquitar was rather silent these days. No major threats to the planet and the people inhibiting it had emerged, and any threat that did emerge was rather small and taken care of easily. The primarily water-based planet was easy going and the same way it had been for years on end. As the watery sun began to fade into the night, we see a beautiful three story house out in the middle of the plains here in Aquitar. Painted a pale shade of blue to match the planet's primary color, a light could be seen from the inside of one of the windows. Peeking inside, we see a beautiful female Aquitian, her short brown hair tucked behind her pointed ears and underneath her Aquitian skin, an armor-like skin of sorts that was colored gold with with purple accents. Dressed in a purple, black and gold blouse, she is seen carrying a small child in her arms, the child asleep and sucking on it's tiny thumb as the mother walked into the baby's room, laying him to sleep in his crib. As the mother smiled and silently made a note to herself about perhaps re-painting the crib, she turned off the lights and walked out of the room and down the hall towards the family chamber, as it was called. In it was basically everything you could ever ask for in a home. Fully stocked kitchen and cabinets, dinner table, and a communications room to keep in touch with everyone on Aquitar. And sitting at one of the radio tables was none other than this woman's husband, a tall man with short brown hair and thick glasses that hung from his shirt as he tweaked one of the radio's to get it to work properly. Feeling her gentle hand on his shoulder, the man stood up, his emerald green eyes giving the woman a sense of warmth she hadn't felt in a few days. Bending down to give her a big hug, Billy Cranston smiled as he held his wife, Cestria, in his large arms.

It was good to be home.

Billy Cranston: Hi honey. How are you doing? You seem to be happy to finally have me back home after those few days out in the field.

Cestria: I was worried that someone or something would come for you and disrupt you and the others from your work, or worse, cause some harm to you. You never know what to expect from this planet, my dear.

Billy Cranston: Well, with Delphine, Aurico, Corcus, Cestro and Tideus working out there in the field with me, I'm sure that if anything were to happen, those five would have taken care of it. They know how important this work is to me, hun.

Cestria: Oh I know, Billy. I just get worried sometimes because things can get...well, you know, out of hand. I don't want anything to happen to you that could jeopardize our family.

Billy Cranston: Cestria, you've got nothing to worry about. I think you sometimes forget about what I was and what I did back when I lived in Angel Grove. I'm more than capable of taking care of myself. All my years there taught me to become a responsible and self aware human. But I appreciate your concern, love. I really do. But anyways, moving on...how's Titus doing? Is he asleep right now?

Cestria: Yes dear. I just laid our baby boy to sleep no more than five minutes ago. He was very sad that Daddy was gone for a few days, but he behaved himself well and was a good boy. He'll be glad to see that Daddy's back in one piece. Besides, how are those five doing anyways? I haven't heard from them lately.

Billy Cranston: Delphine is doing a good job of keeping them all on the alert, God forbid something terrible happens and they need to go back into action. She's a natural leader and a great one at that. She reminds me of two people back home in Angel Grove who were like that. Those two were great together. But that was years ago...but yeah, the rest of them are all doing fine. They send their regards to you and Titus.

Cestria: Ahh, glad to know. I was beginning to wonder if they'd ever say anything about me and our baby. But moving on, it's funny that you mention Angel Grove, because just yesterday morning when I was out here in the kitchen, I found a letter addressed to you, and it came from Angel Grove. It said something about a reunion of close friends and that your presence would greatly be appreciated there...

Billy Cranston: Really? Where's the note?

Cestria points to the counter top, where the creased and folded note laid, with Billy's name written across it. Unfolding it, Billy began to scan the note and it's written contents, a small smile beginning to creep across his pursed lips as he read it. Placing the note back down, he ran a hand through his hair and now had a big grin on his face as he walked back to his wife, who was going through some old papers at the kitchen table, happy with what he just read.

Cestria: Well, Billy, dear? What did the contents of the note fully reveal? Is there a problem back on Earth that you need to attend to?

Billy Cranston: Quite the contrary, my love. Quite the contrary. I'm not too positive as to the identity of who sent this note, but if my mind and heart are right, which they can be at an astronomically high rate sometimes, then what this note is talking about surely is something that's been a few years in the making.

Cestria: So I take it that nothing bad will be coming out of this note, and that you'll more than likely be heading home to Angel Grove for a spell, Billy?

Billy can't help but sheepishly grin as he looks out the window, at the watery sun that's fading behind the green hills off in the distance. Turning to face his wife, he leans in and gives her a kiss on the cheek, sitting down next to her afterwards, holding her hand in his own, a sincere look in his eyes.

Billy Cranston: Yes, Cestria. I'll stay here for a few more days and then head home to Angel Grove for whatever this note is saying will take place. It sounds harmless enough. And besides, I have a pretty good feeling as to who this note came from.

Cestria: Just be careful when you return to Angel Grove, dear. Living here on Aquitar for so long will surely cause you to become refamiliarized with the atmosphere of Earth all over again. You'll have to breathe without your gills when you are down there.

Billy reached up and touched his neck, running his fingers over the smooth, ripply gills that he had gained when he first married Cestria years ago. His neck felt a tickling sensation when he touched the gills, as if they were almost purring to him, telling Billy to stop touching them. He retracted his hand and proceeded to run it through his wife's hair in back, a warm smile on his face as he gazes into her crystal blue eyes.

Billy Cranston: You really do worry about me too much, sweetheart. I understand that I'll have to do without my gills down in Angel Grove, but I lived on Earth for so long, that it'll be an easy adjustment. I'm gonna be fine, Ces. I'll be gone for a few days and then I'll be back home before you know it.

Cestria: Alright, Billy. I know you'll be alright down there. It's just, I don't want Titus to grow up without a strong father figure in his life, you know? I don't want anything to happen to you down there in Angel Grove. You know how that place is a bullseye for monster attacks.

Billy Cranston: Well, judging from what I've heard from Delphine and them, Angel Grove hasn't been under attack for quite some time. The disaster levels have gone down, and the city is back to what it once was before...well, you know. Delphine has said that Angel Grove has been deemed safe.

Cestria: Oh thank goodness...I'm so glad to hear that. I don't want my amazing husband getting hurt down there...

Billy Cranston: Don't worry, Cestria...

The two stand up and embrace each other tightly in a hug. Cestria was hugging Billy so hard it was as if he would disappear before her very eyes! Both of them had a reassured look on their faces as Billy glanced at the note one last time, his wife still in his arms as he spoke out...

"Besides...what's the worst that could happen?"

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Stone Canyon, California. Present Time. Three Days After Resurrection.

Stone Canyon, California, was usually quiet all year round. As the city that was next to Angel Grove, it was the more peaceful of the two, though then again, knowing the history that Angel Grove has, it'd be hard not to be considered peaceful when you were next door to warzone central on a near daily basis. A small city, much like that of Angel Grove, it was indeed serene and a nice city to fall back on and live in. Wandering in the downtown section of Stone Canyon, we come across many apartment complexes above some of the stores, all of which look like that of the fairly well middle-class suburbia of living. Venturing inside, most of the doors to the apartments have "Please, do not disturb" signs on them, but one of the doors is open ever so slightly, so obviously the person or persons inside must not be doing anything of any importance. Peeking inside, we see a young man with curly black hair that reaches the back of his neck, barely dangling above is shoulders. He's of Asian descent, decked out in a black long sleeved shirt and black pants to boot, walking around his small kitchen as he puts some plates and glasses away. Peering even more into the room, we see a young woman sitting down on the couch near the television, talking on the phone to someone. She's of African descent, with her long black hair tied up in a bun to keep it out of the way. She was wearing a dark yellow cardigan that she had on her shoulders to keep her warm, and her sweatpants were a light shade of yellow too. These two friends had been living together for only three weeks, but their friendship...and relationship, for that matter...had been going strong for close to two and a half years. After finishing the dishes, the boy walked over to the girl and sat down next to her on the couch, exhausted and wanting a little rest before dinner time. The girl finished up her conversation on the phone and looked at her tired man, coyly smiling at him before curling up in a ball with his arm around her, resting her head on his broad chest.

Life was good for Tanya Sloan and Adam Park

Tanya Sloan: So, little frog of mine, how was your day?

Adam Park: Busy, yet uneventful. Interesting, yet boring. It was just...blah. One of those days, you know? I didn't know that grocery shopping and going to the laundromat could be all of those things at once. How was your day, girly?

Tanya Sloan: It was real good, real intriguing as well. Your probably wondering who I was talking to on the phone just now, huh?

Adam Park: Um...the landlord? Police? Martians? Tom Cruise? I didn't really catch your conversation with whoever it was, I was kinda busy trying to figure out how I was going to fit all the glasses we have in the cupboard. Who was it?

Tanya Sloan: It was someone from back home, Adam. An old friend of yours.

Adam Park: Uh, Tanya...I don't know if I ever told you, but I was raised here in Stone Canyon. Stone Canyon's my home, babe.

Tanya Sloan: Yes Adam, I'm well aware of the fact that you spent quite a bit of your childhood and early adolescence here in Stone Canyon. But it was someone from your other home, sweetie. Someone who's been wanting to see you for a long time.

The look in Tanya's eyes, coupled with Adam's eager look, told him that it was someone from his past, someone from his high school days. His own eyes widened with a bit of confusion and a bit of happiness, but he did a good job of masking the confusion in favor of the happiness.

Adam Park: Oh, no way...you can't be serious!

Tanya Sloan: Oh, dear Adam, but I am. That was exactly who you think it was. I don't know how he got a hold of our number, considering we only moved in a few weeks ago, but he called and wanted to tell you and I that something of importance is coming up on June 22nd. And he would love the two of us to be in attendance.

Adam Park: What else did he say? Did he say what this whole thing was about?! Come on, Tanya, spill the beans, I haven't seen or spoken to him in ages!

Tanya Sloan: Hold your horses there, froggy! The only things that he said to me were that he's expecting all eleven of us to be there and that to wear your favorite color. I won't have a problem with the color part, but uh, heh, I don't know about you, darling.

Adam Park: I don't have a decision to make. I'm sticking with my first color. My second color was alright, but it just didn't feel right following in...you know, his footsteps, considering how much he did when he wore it.

Tanya Sloan: Well that's good to know! We should start beginning our trip to Angel Grove, then. I want to surprise everyone there with how good we look.

Adam Park: Tanya, love...heh, we just moved in three weeks ago. Don't you think we should finish getting ourselves settled in here before we worry about how we're going to look when we show up at this thing?

Tanya Sloan: Oh Adam, chill out! Relax! At the rate we're going, we should be done getting our things in check within the next day or two. Then that'll give us plenty of time to make sure we're at our best when we arrive that night. And besides, I really want to look good for that one you were always telling me about. The one that I never met.

Adam Park: What one, Tanya? You haven't met three of them...

Tanya Sloan: The one with the letter, baby. I forget her name, but I remember barely meeting her when we came back from Muranthias.

Adam Park: Oh...

Adam's thoughts in the present were crushed all around him by the thought of that damn letter that he read all those years ago. Sure, it wasn't really that long ago, but to Adam, it felt like eons. He still felt remorse and guilt for being the one that read it to him, being the one that led to the heartbreak. He still hadn't forgiven himself for being the unlucky one that had to break the news to him. It ate at him a bit. He couldn't help but feel sorrow everytime the letter was brought up.

Tanya Sloan: What, is something wrong?

Adam Park: No, everything's fine. You already met her though. Remember?

Tanya Sloan: Adam, she nearly choked me to death and beat me up pretty good. Then she dissapeared just as quickly as she appeared. I wouldn't call that meeting someone in my book.

Adam Park: Oh, well, yeah. I'm sorry for that. But I don't think she's going to be there, Tanya. Nobody except for Goldie has really kept in touch with her from what I know, and even then, his contact with her was or still is scarce. I don't think you need to get yourself all dolled up for someone that might not show.

Tanya Sloan: With the group of friends we have and the bond we all share together...I'm expecting the unexpected. Now, what will it be for dinner tonight, Adam? Chinese food or Mexican food?

Adam Park: We had Chinese a few nights ago. Let's have some Mexican food. How's that sound to you?

Tanya Sloan: Ooh, adventerous, are we?

The two share a quick laugh and an embrace before Tanya got up to go dig through one of the kitchen drawers, trying to find the take out menu to the Mexican restaurant a few blocks away. As she did that, Adam turned his head and gazed out at the sunset through his window. Staring at it deeply, he sighed and turned his attention to the television, where the local news was on. He tried not to think about those two and their less than breathtaking split. He felt responsible in a way.

"For his and her sake...I hope they both show up...and I hope they can sort things out..."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Eastern Africa. Present Time. Four Days After Resurrection.

The weather had been unbearably hot the past few days here in Eastern Africa. It hadn't rained in almost a week, and everyone was just sick and tired of the sweltering heatwaves and the humidity. The temperature would normally reach it's highest point, which was around 104 degrees Farenheit, during the afternoon, and at night, it's lowest average temperature was was about 80 degrees Farenheit. So either way you looked at it, it was hot, sweaty and sticky all day and all night. But living in this part of Africa, you came to expect such weather and learned to deal with it very quickly, or else you wouldn't last very long out on the reservations. The people that lived out here on the reservations came to grips with that and were barely affected by the heat. They didn't really care for it and wished that a heavy monsoon would sweep through and give some of the fields life, but they also knew that you couldn't get everything that you wished for. They were just thankful to be alive and thankful that their work out here was towards a good cause. The cause that they were doing all of this work for was to make sure that the reservations could be brought back to the good days they had experienced many years ago, and that at some point, all of the animals that lived on the reservations would be healthy and back to normal. As we get closer to one of the many small colonies located here on the reservations, we see many of the people scurrying around, trying to get their work done before sundown. Most of them are dressed in traditional African garb, but one girl stands out the most out of all of them. She's got her long braids tied together in pigtails, and she's wearing a familiar shade of yellow, a yellow that was as bright as the sun. As the small breeze brushed past the end of her dress, causing it to rub against her knees, she smiled as she whistled and sat down on a nearby rock, a look of satisfaction on her face.

Aisha Campbell's work here was finished.

Aisha Campbell: Alright, ladies and gentlemen, can I please have your attention? Thank you! First off, I just want to congratulate you on all of your hard work the past few days despite the less than favorable weather conditions. We're getting closer to reaching our goal with each passing day! If we keep it up, we'll have things back to normal, and all the animals will be allowed back into the wilderness. But my announcement is that I'm going to say that today's work was impressive, so I'm giving you all the rest of the day off. Enjoy your evening, guys and girls!

The group of people let out a cheer as Aisha pulls herself up to her feet and walks towards her tent, an unerasable smile on her face as she pushes open the flaps and walks inside to see if their's anything in there for her in the form of mail and whatnot. Slightly frowning when finding nothing, Aisha shrugs her shoulders and heads back out to walk over to the makeshift mess hall that they have set up to grab some water. As she entered the small building, she ran into her supervisor, her watcher. But this woman was much more than Aisha's supervisor. She was like a mother figure to Aisha, and she always had been ever since she decided to stay in Africa years back. She couldn't quite say or pronounce her entire name, but she knew that it started with the letter d, so she just called her Mama D. Mama D didn't mind being called that. Mama D looked happy to see Aisha, as evidenced by the big hug she gave her, before bringing her over to where she was sitting for a chat.

Aisha Campbell: Mama D, so good to see you again! How're you doing?

Mama D: Ahh young Aisha, my child, I'm doing just fine! And how is my favorite little worker doing herself?

Aisha Campbell: Just tired, Mama D. Today was very strainful and I'm just glad that we got today's work done quicker than normal. I gave everyone the rest of the day off to have to themselves. They deserve it, and by God, so do I.

Mama D: Like I've always said, hard work deserves to be recognized and those who work hard deserve to be rewarded. They really did a good job today with the animals. They're all chirping and roaring like they were never sick

Aisha Campbell: Yeah, tell me about it, I thought I was going to have a fit when one of the lions wouldn't cooperate with me and a few others. It took us two hours to groom and clean him!

Mama D: I saw you, looks like you were having a fun time over there!

Aisha Campbell: That's far from the truth, Mama D, and--...what's that? Is that an owl?

Just then, an owl came flying down through one of the windows and landed next to Aisha and Mama D. It cooed a few times as it turned it's head to look at Aisha, like it had something to say to her almost. Attatched to it's leg was a note. Mama D gently grabbed the owl's delicate leg and slid the note off of it. The owl then cooed once more and promptly flew out the window and back into the distance. As Aisha watched the owl fly away, Mama D unraveled the note and began to examine it, putting on her reading glasses to get a better look. She tugged on the back of Aisha's dress, wanting her to sit down, but Aisha was paying no attention. The owl looked familiar to her...

Mama D: Aisha, you may want to hear this.

Aisha Campbell: What's the note about, Mama D? Tell me, I'm trying to figure out where that owl came from and where it's flying back to...

Mama D: Alright, here goes..."Dear Aisha, it's me, your old friend whose name rhymes with Docco. Lame, I know, but whatever. June 22nd will be an important day for everyone back home. Everyone that we all grew close with, that is. We'd love it if you could make it. Hope to see you there, Aisha."

Aisha Campbell: Oh my gosh! Mama D, let me see that note! I need to read it!

As Mama D handed Aisha the note, Aisha began to examine it up and down, hoping that this wasn't some sick joke or mirage that was messing with her mind. It was hot enough to consider that, but the feel of the paper in her hand told her that it was all true. Her eyes lit up and the smile she had on before was bigger this time around. She let out a squeal of excitment as Mama D looked at her young apprentice with intrigued eyes.

Mama D: Young Aisha, are you feeling alright?

Aisha Campbell: Mama D, you have no idea how much this letter is making me happy right now! I'm going to get to go back home! Home to Angel Grove!

Mama D: Ahh, so you are wanting to go home. I figured as much by what the letter said. Well, my young apprentice, if that is how you feel, then I have no qualms with you wanting to go back home and see all of your old friends. We will do fine without you for however long it is you need to be there.

Aisha Campbell: Oh, Mama D, are you sure you'll be alright? I could always tell them that I can't make it due to my obligations here, they'd understand...

Mama D: No child, it is where you belong. Go. See all of your old friends. They must miss you dearly. We will be fine here.

Aisha Campbell: Thank you so much, Mama D! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Aisha then lunged forward and pulled Mama D into a fierce hug, gripping her tightly as Mama D did the same, lightly chuckling as Aisha pulled away and ran to her tent to begin the process of gathering her belongings, the smile on her face seemingly getting bigger as she kept thinking about it. She was getting to go home.

"I can't believe this! This is great! I'm going home!"

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Geneva, Switzerland. Present Time. Five Days After Resurrection.

The storms and rain had been raging on for days at a time here in Geneva. The weather reports had said that there was no end in sight, at least for the forseeable future, that is. Luckily though, no floods came about and nobody had to be evacuated to another part of the country, away from their homes and their families. But as the rain continued to pour down from the heavens like their was no tomorrow, the citizens of Geneva tried to pull out as many positives as they could from the string of depressing weather. They really had no choice but to do that, because it was either they find something to do with themselves until the weather finally cleared up, or they would end up driving themselves insane by being stuck inside the confines of their own homes every single day. So for the two people living in the nicest apartment building that they could afford on Livingston Way, their days consisted of writing letters back home, watching the news a lot, playing Blackjack and Solitare, reading a ton of books, playing old board games that they brought along with them, and sleeping. Yep, that's all that they did.

It's not like Zack Taylor and Trini Kwan had anything else to do during this stretch of horrid weather.

Zack Taylor: Hey Trini, what do you want to do today?

Trini Kwan: Ugh, we've done everything that there is to do around here while it's still raining out, Zack. There's nothing much left here for us to tackle, you know?

Zack Taylor: Well damn woman, I didn't know you felt that strongly about everything! Sue me for being a gentleman and asking!

Trini Kwan: Knock it off, Zack, I'm only messing with you. But seriously, I'm up for something, but what is there left to go out and see? What is there to do? We've basically seen everything and done everything here in Switzerland, Zack.

Zack Taylor: From the sound of it, your making yourself sound extremely homesick...am I right, or am I right?

Trini Kwan: You'd be right...

Zack Taylor: And the Zack-Man scores yet again! Woo, I'm good! I know you too well, Trini! Too well!!

Trini Kwan: Zack...seriously...

Trini looked out at the window and watched as the rain splashed and splotched up against the window, streaking and flooding down the glass and falling all the way down onto the pavement five floors below. She let out a deep, heavy sigh as she moved some of her long black hair out of the way, not noticing that Zack had sat down next to her at the table.

Zack Taylor: Trini, what's wrong? Tell the Zack-Man. I've been sensing over the past few days that you haven't been acting like your normal self. What's buggin' ya?

Trini Kwan: I just miss it all, Zack. I miss the sun, I miss the light breeze, I miss the ocean, I miss the beach, I miss Ernie's, I miss our friends...I miss Angel Grove as a whole, Zack. It's been ages since we left for here. Don't you think we should go back and see how everyone's doing?

Zack Taylor: That'd be a great idea, but how do we know that everyone's still even living there? For all we know, they could have all moved out of Angel Grove and could be scattered around the world. Going back to Angel Grove to find that nobody's there would be a waste of time, don't you think?

Trini Kwan: I just...I just have a feeling that the one person I know better than you is there. He has to be. He'd never leave Angel Grove.

Zack Taylor: Trini, come on. I know him just as well as you do, if not better. He was my best friend! He doesn't like being cooped up in the same place for more than a few years. Knowing him, he's probably gone and living in Germany or something...

Just then, a beeping noise is heard coming from the other side of the room. Wondering what was causing the beeping, Zack and Trini walk into the joint bedroom and look down on the dresser, where their cellphones resided. Zack's had just finished beeping, but the screen was lit up saying that he had one new text message. Picking it up and flipping it open, he saw that it was from an unknown number. Usually, he'd disregard something like that, but he was in a different mood today, so he opened the message and stared at it for a few seconds. He then dropped his phone and backed away a few inches, eyes wide with shock and his jaw dropped. He shook his head in disbelief as Trini gave him a questionable look, bending down to pick up the phone and read the message.

Trini Kwan: What is with you, Zack? Your acting like you were the first time we met--

Zack Taylor: Don't read it, Trini! You'll be in a state of shock like me!

Trini Kwan: Oh what, it's a little text message. What could be so bad about it? Let's see what it says..."Contrary to your beliefs, Zack, I still live here in Angel Grove..."

Trini gasped and nearly dropped the phone herself as she thought back to what Zack just said. How could this person know? Were they being watched? What was going on? All of these thoughts raced through her head as she forced herself to finish reading the rest of the message.

Trini Kwan: "I know that this may be a bit shocking to the both of you right now, especially you Zack, but I just needed to let you two that on June 22nd, we're all getting back together for a special gathering. I've already made travel arrangements for the two of you, and hotel arrangements here in Angel Grove as well. I fully expect to see you both there. It's been way too long. In a few moments, you'll be recieving your plane tickets. See you then."

Just then a knock could be heard on their door, and underneath the door they saw an envalope slide into their room, marked for one Zack Taylor and one Trini Kwan. The two of them simply couldn't believe this sudden turn of events. To say that they were both blown away was a gross understatement. It was if they were living in a dream world, almost. Putting the phone down on the dresser, Trini was visibly shaking and sat down on the edge of the bed, where Zack shuffled over to sit next to her. Putting his arm around her, Trini looked up into Zack's eyes, and he gave her a reassuring look. Couldn't get much wierder than this.

Zack Taylor: Well then, looks like we're goin' back home for good now, huh?

Trini Kwan: How though? How did he know everything? The last time I spoke to him, he never mentioned anything like this...

Zack Taylor: You know him, Trini. He must have picked it up during one of his last few missions and decided that it'd be best that he keep quiet about it. But you shouldn't worry about that. Worry about how weird it's gonna be when we step foot in Angel Grove again.

Trini Kwan: I...I...I guess your right, Zack. We should begin packing...still though, how--

Zack Taylor: Shhh. He'll explain it to us better in person than over the phone. Now come on, Trini, help me unload the suitcases and everything else.

And with that, the two of them began to tear their hotel apart, taking all of their belongings and clothing, among other trinkets, down and such and throwing them into their bags. It would be a long trip back to Angel Grove, and they had to make sure that they had every last thing from Switzerland. They would be going home. And they'd be staying there.

"I just hope that he hasn't changed completely...I hope he's the same person that I knew a long time ago..."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Angel Grove, California. Present Time. That Same Day.

So, is that nearly everyone man?"

"Well, everyone except two. But he already knows, I've been talking to him about it for a year or so now. He didn't believe that it'd ever happen."

"So that leaves just one, huh?"

"Yeah...just one. And I think she's gonna be the only one that doesn't show up."

As the sun was barely beginning to shine through the windows of their three headed apartment above their dojo, Jason Lee Scott and Rocky DeSantos were ready to welcome a new day. It was Saturday, and luckily, they didn't have to open the dojo today to teach classes, as they decided that they needed a day off to get things ready for everyone's impending arrival. Rocky had just slipped a shirt on and was beginning to rummage through the refridgerator, looking to make himself a big breakfast to feed his infamously huge appetite, while Jason was sitting down at the kitchen table, looking over some papers in regards to his old friends, flipping through page after page until he came across his own information, checking to make sure everything was in check.

Rocky DeSantos: Why do you say that, Jase? What makes you think that she'll be the only one to decline?

Jason Lee Scott: I just have this feeling, man. The last time I spoke to her, which was months and months ago, she barely gave any recognition to that part of her life, only mentioning it in passing moments. It's like she's blocked out that part of her life.

Rocky DeSantos: I seriously doubt she did that, Jase. It was such a huge part of her life for so long, how could you possibly block something like that out? Did she mention you know who at all?

Jason Lee Scott: I brought him up, trying to see if she still had any remorse for what she had done, and she acted as if he didn't exist. It pissed me off, but hey, it's her life, I can't force her to go by what I believe in.

Rocky DeSantos: Man, that's unreal. What do you think her reaction will be like when she recieves the letter?

Jason Lee Scott: Wish I knew, man. She'll probably tear it up and throw it in the trash. She isn't the girl that I considered my little sister when we were in high school. She's completely changed. There's something missing in her, though. And I think I know what it is.

Rocky DeSantos: It has to do with him, doesn't it?

Jason sternly nodded his head in approval, as he momentarily glanced at a picture of his two friends, a picture of them when they were in high school together and madly in love. He then glanced back at Rocky and thought to himself, "How could two people who loved each other for so long just drift apart like this?", shaking his head and leaving his paperwork to walk to the balcony, where the sun was beginning to fully rise over Angel Grove. He looked out at the horizon, out towards the beaches, where he knew that his friend probably was right now, wandering around and thinking about what could have been. His attention was diverted back to Rocky when he spoke from the kitchen, caught off guard and forgetting the fact that their was another person in the room with him.

Rocky DeSantos: Where do you think he's at right now? I haven't seen him since last night when we closed up the dojo and all. You think he's alright?

Jason Lee Scott: Knowing him as well as I do and for as long as I have, he's at the beach, throwing seashells into the ocean and just thinking about stuff as he wanderes up and down the shoreline. And I'm pretty sure that he's thinking about her. And if I'm wrong in that assumption, then I'm guessing he's at the park. He always goes there when he needs his alone time.

Rocky DeSantos: Wow. Just wow. I still can't believe that it's been this long since they talked. I remember that day like no other, too. I wanted to kill someone or something. I nearly teleported to Florida, but luckily the gang talked me out of it. But jeez, it's been forever, you'd think that one of them would of at least attempted to speak to the other after what happened--

Jason Lee Scott: What happened on Muranthias, yeah, don't remind me. You don't know how hard I tried to get those two to get back with each other or at least see each other on a semi-regular basis during the trip back to Angel Grove from there. Do you know how long the trip was, Rocko?

Rocky DeSantos: Didn't it take you guys like, three days to get back?

Jason Lee Scott: Exactly. Three whole days spent trying to mend the bridge between those two. I'm lucky that they even talked to each other and were friendly with one another.

Rocky DeSantos: Then why wouldn't they want to get back together then if they were talking and getting along?

Jason Lee Scott: Well, he had Kat at the time and she was just up here with me because I bugged and bugged her to come up and see everyone. I didn't understand it, though. When I saw the look in his eyes when she turned evil with me, I just knew that he still loved her. And the look in her eyes when she helped him save me just told a story of lost love, you know? I just had this feeling that the two of them really missed one another and desperately wanted themselves back in their respective lives. But once me and her stepped into Red Lightning, they acted as if they had never loved each other and moved on. It was depressing to see. But I just know...

Rocky DeSantos: You just know that those two still love each other. Yeah, I get that feeling a lot too. There are times when I'm sleeping and I can hear him calling her name in his sleep. Then there are times when I see him going through old photos of him and her. Hell, I even saw him writing a poem about her. It's sad. He needs her a lot more than he says he does. Something's gotta be done, Jase. I can't stand seeing him like this.

Jason Lee Scott: I'm in the same boat as you, Rocko. I can almost sense that she needs him more too. But the last time I talked to her, she was real secretive about a lot of stuff. It's like she has some big burden on her shoulders that she doesn't want to bear with anyone else.

Rocky DeSantos: Well man, you just better send the letter and hope that you get a response or give up all hope that she'll come back and see everyone. I personally do hope that she shows though. She was the heartbeat of the group, the spirit almost. Having her around will definatly be a good thing...for everyone. Including him.

Jason Lee Scott: Well, here goes nothing. I hope this works.

Jason placed the sealed and wrapped letter down on a nearby coffee table, staring at it deeply as he did so. He then put his hands to his head and closed his eyes, focussing all of his thought and energy on the letter. A moment later, he opened his eyes and the letter was gone. He let out a sigh of relief as he took a seat next to Rocky, who by now was on his fourth bowl of Frosted Flakes, eager to know if it was good or not.

Rocky DeSantos: So is it sent, Jase?

Jason Lee Scott: It's sent, alright. She should be getting it sometime this afternoon, early evening at the latest. Now all we can do is wait, Rocko. And pray.

Rocky DeSantos: Pray for what?

ason Lee Scott: Pray that she remembers the good times that we all shared with each other. Pray that she remembers anything at all. Pray that she'll come home and be with us. Where ever she is, that she'll realize that it isn't where she belongs. Angel Grove is where she belongs.

Rocky DeSantos: And pray that if she does come, she comes with an open heart and is willing to talk things over with him and see if they can get back together again. They need it.

Jason Lee Scott: We all need it, Rocky.

Rocky finished up his latest bowl of Frosted Flakes and put the bowls he used in the sink, while Jason twirled a pencil around in his hands, his eyes fixated on the distant shoreline. Rocky came up behind him and put his hand on his shoulder and nodded his head. The two of them had a long day ahead of them if they wanted to get everything looking nice for everyone's arrival in a few days. It was June 16th. Most of them would be arriving in Angel Grove within the next few days and would surely come by to see what the fuss was all about. As Jason stood up and began to sweep the floor and wipe down the counter, he just kept muttering the same thing over and over to himself as he cleaned everything in the three headed appartment building up.

"We all need it..."

AN: And so, the end of chapter one. I know, this style of writing with the person's name in front of their spoken diologue is different and such, but I won't be keeping it in the forthcoming chapters. This chapter basically served as an introduction to the story, and yes, I left the two best rangers out in order to focus on them in the second chapter. THank you for reading and hope you all enjoy!


	2. Worlds Apart

Author Note: I do not own any of the characters involved in this story. Disney owns the Power Rangers, but they shouldn't because they won't release it on DVD. Any characters that seem new are new, and I do own them. Anything that is like another story you've read is purely coincidental. Thank you for taking the time to read this and thank you for any reviews and the like.

The sun was beginning to rise on this day, Saturday, June 16th, in Angel Grove, California. The sky was as blue as the waters in the Pacific Ocean, and the sand was as white as the suit this lonely man used to wear for a living. As he wandered up and down the shoreline, picking up random seashells and tossing them into low tide, Thomas James Oliver, better known as Tommy, was beginning to ponder his existance again. Ever since he moved to Angel Grove during his high school days, he had always wondered one thing to himself, no matter the circumstance or problem.

"Why me?", Tommy muttered to himself as he tossed another seashell into the ocean. "Why did it have to be me? Why couldn't it have been someone else?", he said as he stopped and stared at the sky, wondering what life for him would be like had he not walked down that deserted alleyway all those years ago.

As much as he loved doing what he did for so many years, being regarded as a legend and the greatest of all time, Tommy had always questioned the matter of how he exactly became a Power Ranger. At first, he wasn't the loveable White Power/Ninja Ranger, the ultra serious Red Zeo/Turbo Ranger, or the iconic Black Dino Ranger. He was the evil Green Power Ranger, a pawn in Rita Repulsa's quest to eradicate the Power Rangers and their mentor, Zordon, from the face of the earth. The fact that he nearly killed all of his friends and destroyed the team by himself still plagued him years later.

"I shouldn't of been an idiot that day. I should of just followed Billy to the Youth Center and met up with Jase and all of them. I shouldn't of gone down that god damn alley. If I hadn't, I'd of never became this. I wouldn't of done Rita's bidding and I wouldn't of nearly destroyed the Power Rangers. I wouldn't of become a fucking ranger in the first place. I'd of just been plain, old Tommy Oliver. And quite frankly, that would of been fine", Tommy said as he began his walk again, watching the waves majestically crash and pound the sand and the various creatures that lived in the waters. Tommy barely managed a grin as he watched a little crab scurry out of the water towards land, his mind too wrapped up in his angst. His long, mahogany hair beginning to whip him in the face, he reached into his pockets and pulled out a hair tie, and tied it up in a ponytail.

"I don't even know why I decided to grow this stuff back out in the first place", he said as he finished tying his loose hair up in back before finding an empty lifeguard post, climbing up in it and sitting down. It was seven thirty in the morning, so he could get away with it. "I had this hair when I was a ranger. I'm not a ranger anymore. Hell, I'm not even teaching anymore. I gave that up once me, Rocko and Jase found the Fountain Of Time. Now I'm twenty two again. The only thing I got going is the dojo. Argh, I wish I had never become a friggin ranger in the first place! I never wanted these powers! I wanted a normal life, and now that's been taken away from me!", he shouted as he gazed out at the oceanic horizon, the sky turning from a light shade of blue to an even ligher shade of orange, with a splash of yellow thrown in there as well. But he then let off a heavy sigh, knowing damn well that everything he had done in his life had been for a reason.

"But I guess that Zordon was right all of these years. I was chosen to be a Power Ranger because I had the heart, the determination, the skill and the passion. Not many people would have done what I've done in my life. I just wish that I hadn't been made evil at first. I don't care what Jase says, I'll never be able to live down the fact that I used my powers because of Rita. I nearly killed them all", Tommy whispered as he stood up and turned around to face the city. He looked in the direction of Red Phoenix Dojo, the dojo that him, Rocky and Jason owned and taught at. A very small smile creeped across his lips as he turned back around and jumped off the post, landing on the sand with a tiny thud, beginning his walk down the shoreline again as he turned his head to get one last glance in the direction of the dojo.

"They're probably wondering where I am right now. Well, Rocky is. Jase must think I'm here. I could almost sense his brain waves when I arrived", Tommy thought to himself as he stopped briefly to watch a small iguana crawl across the sand towards a hole, before walking further along again. "You know Tommy, you shouldn't sell everything you've done as a ranger short. You've battled some of the fiercest evil doers in the galaxy. You've met many friends to go along with your many powers. You even taught a group of kids to become rangers. And...", he stopped his thought process as he looked down at his brown boots, a reminder to himself of who he had let go.

"And if it weren't for becoming a ranger, Tommy...you'd of never met the girl of your dreams", he finished, looking up from his boots to the scenery again. "I remember when we would want to get as far away from everything without leaving Angel Grove...we'd always come here, to my Uncle John's beach house. She used to love coming up here with me. I remember the time we started that bon fire, how she nearly burned my uncle's house down, and how we had to call Zack at two in the morning to come help extinguish the flames. We first made out here, too. Heh...this strip of sand and water...it holds so many memories of her...", Tommy whispered as his thoughts drifted off into a dream of his high school days, when things were much simpler and he was in love.

xXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Come on Tommy, stop being so depressed. We're coming up here to enjoy ourselves. Jase and Zack can take care of everything while we're gone!", Kimberly exclaimed as she attempted to drag Tommy out of his jeep and towards the beach house they always came to. "Oh, will you stop it, Tommy!"

"Listen Kim, I appreciate you wanting to do this to help me feel better, but I don't know if that's gonna work", Tommy began as he reluctantly stepped out of the truck and slammed the door shut, all while Kim took his arm and dragged him closer and closer to the house. "But Zedd's been coming after me nonstop, and my powers are real weak right now. I have a good reason to be as depressed as I am right now!", he said as Kimberly stopped dragging him and began to pout in front of him, a sign that she was beginning to get irritated with him.

"Tommy Oliver, I am doing this because you are my boyfriend and I can't stand seeing you like this. Do you realize what I'm giving up by doing this for you today?", Kimberly questioned her stubborn boyfriend, as he rolled his eyes and sighed, looking down at his feet as she put her hands on her hips and looked at him with mild irritation.

"Yeah, I know, you're giving up a shopping day at the mall with Trini, and yes, I know the mall is busy on Saturday's and yes, I know that there are a million sales on everything, alright? I told you to go with her and enjoy yourself. I don't know why you're wasting your own time trying to make me happy, Kim", Tommy said morosely. He knew that she only wanted to see him in a good mood, but this just wasn't the time nor was it the place. He'd probably still be asleep right now if it weren't for her, but he just went along with it to make her happy. At least one of them would be.

"Ugh, you make me so mad sometimes, you know that?", the Pink Ranger said to her boyfriend as she continued to walk him closer and closer to the beach house where they shared so many memories during their relationship. "If you weren't as cute as you were, I'd seriously consider looking elsewhere for courtship", she continued on while Tommy snorted at her comments, the look on his face saying, "Thanks Kim."

"Heh, that makes me feel real great about everything, Kimberly. No powers and none of you. My life sounds real great right about now", he joked as Kim rolled her eyes and led him up the steps to the front door. Not needing a key or anything, she pushes the door open and leads Tommy inside, stopping in the middle of the small living room, a smile on her face and arms outstretched while Tommy stood in the doorway, his eyes wide and jaw dropped.

"So, what do you think, Handsome?", Kim asked as Tommy slowly stepped forward, pointing at the walls and decoration. "Well, are you gonna answer me or are you just gonna stand there looking like a fool?", she teased as Tommy continued to take it all in.

The walls, normally painted a beige color, were painted green with gold splashes here and there. Hanging from the ceiling were streamers, and the walls had small drawings on them everywhere you went. Hand painted portraits hung on the walls as well, and right in the middle of the kitchen, on the table, stood two action figures of their respective Zords, the Dragonzord and the Pterodactyl Dinozord, as pristine and precious as the real things. Tommy just stumbled around the place in total awe, while Kimberly just couldn't contain her happiness, her plan to cheer him up seemingly working. As he finished looking around, he walked up to Kim and gave her the biggest hug in the world, a huge smile on his face.

"Did you do all of this, Kim?", he asked, astounded.

"You know I did, Handsome. I drove up here by myself for the past three weekends by myself to do all of this, because I knew that you'd appreciate it", Kim said as she looked up at Tommy, giggled and pulled him down into a kiss. "I did everything."

"Wow...I...I just don't know...how I could ever...thank you...you really didn't need to do all of this, Kim. I'd of cheered up eventually", Tommy managed to sputter out as he gripped his girlfriend tightly around the waist in another hug.

"That's not even the end of it, Tommy. Follow me into the bedroom and you'll get another surprise", she sweetly said as she took his hand in hers and walked him into the bedroom, where on the dresser rested a doll of the Green Ranger, decked out in a tuxedo, and next to him, holding his hand was a doll of the Pink Ranger, all prettied up in a bridal dress. It was the first thing Tommy saw upon entering the room, and to say that he was floored by it would be the understatment of the century. He looked at the two dolls with a tear in his eye beginning to streak down his cheek, silence having taken over his voice box.

"I take it by the look on your face and the tear in your eye that you love it?", Kim asked him as he sat down on the bed, trying to get a check on all of his emotions. "Well, are you gonna say something or are you gonna sit there and cry?", she asked jokingly as she gave him a playful punch on the shoulder.

"I...Kimberly, this is amazing. Did you make the dolls all by yourself?", he asked as she nodded her head approvingly. "So that's what you were making in art class all this time?", he questioned again as she once more nodded her head. "Wow...Kim, they're absolutly gorgeous. But...why're they dressed up in a tuxedo and a bridal dress?", he asked her as she sheepishly grinned, brushing away a strand of her hair and looking down at her hands.

"They're wearing those because, Tommy...", she started to say.

"Because what, Kim?", he finished for her.

"Because...I love you...and when the time is right...I want to marry you", she finally said. "I know that I'm only seventeen right now, but you're the absolute greatest guy that I've ever met, and I can't imagine myself with anyone else. If that didn't get through, then hear this. Tommy Oliver, I don't want to spend my life with anyone but you. I want to be your girlfriend, your wife, your everything", she whispered as she trailed off, lifting her head to look up at Tommy in his eyes, a sincere look on her face as she kissed him in the cheek.

"Do...do you really mean all of that, Kim?", was all Tommy could manage to say, while she nodded her head excitedly in response. "I never thought you felt that way...I'm so relieved to hear that, because I feel the exact same way about you too, Kim...", he said as he smiled and hugged her tightly, not wanting to let her go.

"There's one last thing I have to give you to complete the surprise, Tommy. Close your eyes", Kimberly said as she straightened herself on the bed and reached into the pocket of her jeans for something. Out of there she pulled a necklace with a beautiful seashell attatched to it, painted half green and half pink to symbolize their colors. "Now, open them", she said to him as she held it out in front of him, his eyes fixated on it with the utmost of interest.

"Oh come on, Kim. You're spoiling me rotten here. I don't deserve all of this. It's not like I lost an appendage or my powers for good or anything like that", he said, but Kimberly wouldn't have any of it as she tied the necklace around his neck and watched it fall into place. All he could do was just lean forward and give Kim a kiss on the cheek, happy to have the best girl in the world sitting in front of him. "You need to stop doing this every time I start feeling down. There are other methods of you cheering me up, and it doesn't involve remaking my uncle's beach house and making me this necklace. Whatever happened to just coming up here and spending the day surfing and talking about life?", he asked her as she fluttered her eyes and grinned at him.

"That was when we were in the just friends period. That was just after you had been out from under Rita's influence. That was before you kissed me and told me you loved me, Handsome. It all changed once you did that", she said as she cupped his face in her hand and kissed him on the cheek again. "You changed me, Tommy. You made me a better girl."

"You can't credit me with any of that, Kimberly. I won't let you. You found it within yourself to change. I'm just the guy with the failing powers", he muttered as his eyes drifted elsewhere, staring at the wall closest to him.

"Tommy, you'll always be one of us, no matter what happens. I will always love you and look out for you, and I will always be there when you need me. After all you've done for me, you deserve to have someone in your life that will share your feelings and thoughts", Kim whispered as she inched closer towards Tommy, leaning in and resting her head on his chest while he turned to look down at her.

"I don't know what I'd do without you, Beautiful. I'd be one lost little boy if I didn't have you to keep me in line", he said as he smiled and rubbed her shoulders, which caused her to giggle as she leaned forward and stood up from the bed.

"You'd probably still be evil and causing a lot of trouble for me and the rest of the gang. Or you'd still be living on the reservations", she said as Tommy stood up as well and looked down longingly into her brown eyes, seemingly getting lost in them.

"I love you, Kimberly Ann Hart."

"I love you too, Thomas James Oliver."

Kimberly then leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed Tommy, the two of them engaged in the lip lock for quite a few moments before the simple six noise beep went off on their wrists, ruining the tender moment they were sharing before Zack's crackling voice came in over the static.

"I know that this is probably bad timing right now", Zack started before taking a deep breath and continuing. "But we're in the park and Zedd's sent down a massive army of Putties. We need the both of you, pronto!", Zack said as the static ended, while the two of them looked at each other, knowing what was at hand.

"Are you ready to do this, Beautiful?", Tommy asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be, Handsome.", Kimberly replied.

"Alright then...IT'S MORPHIN TIME!", they both screamed as they reached behind their backs for their morphers, thrusting them forward and calling upon the power of their Dinozords.

"PTERODACTYL!"

"DRAGONZORD!"

And just like that, the two of them dissapeared in streaks of pink and green light as they teleported to the park to do battle with Zedd's hordes.

xXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Tommy then shook his head and drifted out of the memory he had just relived, a look of sorrow plastered all over his face as the sun was now high in the sky and the waves were starting to become a little more violent now than they were an hour ago. The mere thought of Kimberly caused Tommy to be washed over with deep regret, knowing that while she was the one that had written the letter in the first place, he did the idiotic thing of not going to Florida to chase her. It had been a while since he had last seen her, when him and the Turbo Rangers had saved her and Jason from Divatox and Maligore's forces on Muranthias. He remembered how he felt when he saw her turn evil. He never imagined that happening, and it caused his mind to trigger the times of when he was evil and hurting her. He couldn't really stand to see it.

"I remember Muranthias like it were yesterday. New Turbo powers or not, I just...it was so surreal", he thought to himself as he came across the relic of his Uncle Steve's beach house, his destination from the start. "Here we are...wonder if it's stayed the same", he thought as he walked up the steps and pushed the door open, surprised that nobody was living here. "Huh. Look at that. Guess no one wanted to buy it", Tommy muttered as he stepped in, but immidiately stopped as he stood in the small living room.

The walls, by now faded, chipped and decaying a little, were still painted green. A few streamers remained stuck to the ceiling, while many of them had fallen to the ground and were ripped apart. The drawings on the walls were barely visible. Only a few of the paintings were still hanging on the walls, most of them being stolen or thrown away presumably. The action figures were long gone as well. Tommy merely shrugged his shoulders and shook his head as he made the slow walk around the entire house, but the look on his face couldn't be changed for anything. He was still shocked that it looked the same, that nobody had bothered to redecorate it. Seeing all of this just hurt him even more.

"Well, this is great", he muttered to himself as he sat down at a table near the bedroom where she had given him the necklace many years ago. He reached into his shirt and pulled up the many necklaces that he wore and sorted out the one that Kim had given him, the necklace looking faded, much like the paint on the walls. Tommy stared at the necklace for a few moments before something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He stood up from the table and walked into the bedroom, and there he saw it. He stopped dead in his tracks at first sight of it. If what he saw could kill, he'd of died right then and there.

"Oh...my...god...", was all Tommy could manage as he took a look at the two dolls on the dresser before him, one of the Green Ranger in his tuxedo, and the other of the Pink Ranger in her bridal dress, dusty beyond belief and covered in cobwebs. All Tommy could do was fall to both knees and bury his face in his hands, letting the tears flow freely as he struggled with his pride. He was trying to not let the memory of her get to him, but seeing this old relic brought them all crashing down on him once more. Lifting himself up off the floor, he snatched the two dolls and placed them in his pockets as gently as he could without ruining them. He just had to keep them.

"Why did it have to be like this? Why'd she have to go and write that damn letter? Why did she have to break my heart and make me what I am right now...", was all Tommy could think about as he managed to stand up and stumble out of the beach house and up the shore towards his jeep. Upon arriving at it, he took the dolls out of his pockets and placed them apart from each other on the dashboard as he climbed into the car and started the ignition, his destination being the dojo.

"I just wish that I could tell you that I still love you...", was all Tommy could say to himself, repeatedly, as he drove back to the dojo, where he was sure to be bombarded with questions from Jason and Rocky about these mysterious dolls and why he had been gone for so long.

xXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The letter rested on the new coffee table she had just bought. The date on the letter said today, but how could that be possible? She was living in Jacksonville, Florida, yet the letter was coming from Angel Grove, California. The letter looked like it hadn't been through the mailing system. No creases, no tears, no tiny rips, no anything. The letter looked brand spanking new. To say that she was confused would be an understatement. Tilting her head to get some of her long brown hair out of her eyes, she just continued to stare at the letter that had been postmarked for her, as if it was going to come to life and fight her. Not that she hadn't seen that sort of thing before, but she was past that phase of her life.

Just then, the woman's daughter came walking into the room, a petite little bundle of energy, much like herself. She walked into her mother's waiting arms, who had crouched down a bit to meet her daughter head on. She had the same brown hair as her mother, and some of the same facial and body features as well. But there was something else about this little girl that made her mother worry. She looked a lot like someone from her past. A past that she had tried to forget all about when she came here. But seeing her daughter walk around with this person's aura of authority was downright eerie, and she knew it. But, like everything else, she tried to ignore it as best as she could.

"So how was your little cat nap there, Nev?", the mother asked her daughter as she put her down on the couch, where her eyes immidiately landed on the unopened letter that had her mom's name on it. Her mother wasn't one to leave letters unopened, especially letters that were directly addressed to her.

"Oh, it was alright, Mom. I dreamed that I was in a fairy tale, that I was a princess and was saved by a knight on a white tiger. It was real interesting", Nevaeh Rose Hart said as her mother spat the water she was drinking into her sink. Her body froze and her heart nearly stopped upon hearing that. She had the same exact dream/fantasy when she was in high school...when she was in love with him. But she regained her composure and brushed it off as if her daughter didn't say what she said.

"That sounds nice, Nev. Sounds like a constant dream I had when I was in high school...", Kimberly Ann Hart replied to her daughter, knowing that it struck a nerve for her to say that.

"Mom, how come you haven't opened this letter yet?", her daughter asked as she held it up for her mother to see.

"What letter, baby?", Kim asked, acting like she had never seen if before.

"This one, in my hand", Nevaeh said as she walked up to Kimberly and held out the letter for her mother to open.

"Oh, this one. I didn't see it there. Must of fallen out of the pile when I brought the mail in earlier", Kim mused, trying to cover up the fact that she had seen the letter and most certaintly DIDN'T want to open it, fearing what it said.

"Don't say that, Mom. I saw you looking at it before I left my room!", her daughter said as Kim mentally cursed herself, knowing that her daughter was smart as a whip for being eleven years old. "Are you gonna open it or what? You never leave any letter unopened, Mom..", Nevaeh said as Kim took the letter out of her small hand and looked at it.

"Alright Nev, I'll open it. Go to your room for a few moments, I'll call you when lunch is ready, alright?", Kim nicely said to her daughter, who nodded her head and skipped back to her room to tune the guitar Kim had given her, leaving her mother to herself in the kitchen.

The letter was mailed to one Kimberly Ann Hart, 2000 Firefly Drive, Jacksonville, Florida 20106. It came from a place that sounded vaguely familiar to her, Red Phoenix Dojo, in Angel Grove, California, 31585. Part of her was telling her to just rip the letter in half and throw it in the trash, and move on with her life. But the other part of her was screaming at her to open the letter, just out of pure curiosity, to see what the contents of it said in regards to her. But then again, part of her told her not to write the letter and fall for a guy who ended up leaving her, when part of her told her to to write it and try a new life with this new guy. After that horrible ordeal, Kimberly had a hard time trusting her own judgment, but this time around, she just felt some force come over her and she then began to tear open the top of the envalope and read the letter inside.

"Dear Kimberly. You're probably wondering who sent this and how it got to you so fast. Well, I'll answer both right now. It's your big brother, and it got there today because I picked up the ability to teleport things as a side effect of our little vacation to Muranthias", the letter began and Kim gasped, her breath seemingly lost at the parts "big brother" and "Muranthias". She hadn't spoken to him in months and Muranthias was one thing that she wanted to forget because...well, she didn't really want to remember it period, for a variety of reasons. One of them was seeing him again.

"I'd ask you questions about yourself, but I'll just cut to the chase here", Kim continued to whisper to herself as she read the letter. "I know that you found the Fountain Of Time and I know that you're back to being twenty two years old. You weren't the only one to find it, either. We all found it here, as did everyone else. But anways, it's that time. Hard to believe, isn't it?", Kim stopped herself as she began to think what Jason was talking about in this letter. That time? What?

"June 22nd is our high school reunion. Angel Grove High School gymnasium is where it's being hosted. But that's not all it is, little sister. It's our own anniversary as well. Our anniversary as being the first protectors of Earth. Our anniversary as the Power Rangers", and that's where Kim stopped herself for good, not wanting to read anymore than she needed to. She had done a good job of blocking out that part of her life, and she wasn't going to let some little letter change her outlook on that. Though, in a sense, it was poetic irony that she sent the first letter that changed two lives for the worse, and now this letter was trying to do the same thing.

"Get a hold of yourself, Kim, it's just a dream. There is no letter, you didn't just read that, and it's not in front of you. You never recieved it, and that part of your life never happened. Now when you open your eyes, the letter won't be in front of you, and you'll be in your bed after just waking up."

She closed her eyes for a few moments, and then opened them back up again. She was in her street clothes. She had received the letter. It was in front of her. She had opened it and read some of it. And that part of her life, however painful it was for her to remember, did happen. Kimberly could only come to one conclusion.

"Shit."

Her hand trembling, her lower lip quivering, she reached for the letter once more and began to read the rest of it to herself.

"I know, you probably didn't want to read that, but it's the truth. I sent this letter out of pure generosity and because I'd love to see everyone back together for a few days. I've sent out various messages to the old gang as well, and they are all making the trip here to Angel Grove to be a part of the festivities. We'd love it if you were able to come and bring Nev with you. Everyone misses you and they'd love to see how that little shortcake of yours has grown. And by everyone, I mean everyone. To finish up, I'm sorry if the means of it just appearing out of nowhere freaked you out, but it's better than nothing. I'll be expecting a call or an e-mail within the next day or so. Hope to see ya here, little sis. Love, your big brother, Jason."

Kim's breaths became shorter as she threw the letter down onto the counter and basically collapsed, curling herself up into a ball, her face down in her knees, as she began to silently weep. For so long, she had feared that something like this would come along and disrupt her happy life here in Florida, and now her fear had come true.

Jason sending her this letter about their high school reunion and anniversary as being the first Power Rangers of earth re-opened all of the wounds she had tried so hard to close and threw salt all over them again. As much as her conscience told her to forget the pain and go see everyone, she knew that she couldn't go. It had been far too long since she had seen everyone, and she couldn't bring herself to come face to face with Tommy again. The last time she had done that, she had been turned evil by Divatox in her grand scheme to take out the Turbo Rangers and, with Jason's help, had nearly killed Tommy in the process. After being restored to normal by Lerigot and his family and after the Turbo Megazord had destroyed Maligore, the rangers took Jason, Kim, the Liarians, Bulk and Skull back to Angel Grove in their Turbo Zords.

As much as she tried to ride in Adam's zord, she found herself unwillingly riding with Jason in Tommy's. And although the two had friendly banter and were glad that Divatox's plan was foiled, Kimberly silently wished that she could tell Tommy the truth about everything, about how she had a daughter back home in Florida and how she still loved him. But it seemed as if Tommy had moved on and found someone else; namely, Kat. And so as it would go, her pride wouldn't let her express her feelings for Tommy, and so she kept her mouth shut. Tommy was completely oblivious to everything, and that only made her pain more unbearable.

They hadn't spoken since. For all she knew, he had left Angel Grove and dissapeared. Jason had stopped mentioning him to her, as she did her best acting job and pretended that she didn't care about him. But beneath the surface, she was merely pounding her heart like a punching bag and tearing away at her own soul, wanting to admit to everything but not finding the strength and courage to do so.

A beep went off and brought Kimberly out of her stupor. The timer on the stove had went off, signifying that the soup she made for her and Nevaeh was finished. Picking herself up off of the floor, she took the top off of the pot and poured the soup into a bowl, wiping away the last of her tears before calling for her daughter, who by now was probably quite starved.

"Nevaeh, the soup's done. Lunch is ready", Kim muttered as she reached into the refridgerator and pulled out a bottle of water and set it on the table next to her daughter's bowl, which was piping hot. Nevaeh walked into the kitchen and sat down at her chair, noticing the change in her mother's demeanor, before grabbing some crackers and crumbling them up into her soup.

"Mom, are you alright?", Nevaeh asked innocently.

"Wha? Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine", Kim stuttered out, her back turned to the table.

"Are you sure? You look like you're crying about something."

"No, Nevaeh. I'll be fine. I just got something in my eye, that's all."

"Mom?"

"Listen, Nev. I'm fine, okay? Eat your lunch before it gets cold."

"Alright, Mom. Are you..."

"For the last time, I'm fine! Just eat your lunch so that we can go out to the mall, I need to get a few things."

"Ooh, alright! Can we stop at American Eagle and A & F while we're there too?"

"If you want to, yes baby. We'll go there too."

Nevaeh let out a squeal of delight as she began to quickly eat her lunch, wanting to get out of the house as quickly as possible so she could shop at a few of her favorite stores. After devouring everything, the two set out towards the Millenium Mall a few blocks away and began going crazy. If there was one thing that Nevaeh had picked up from her mother, it was that she absolutly loved to shop. As soon as they arrived, the two decided to split up and meet in the food court later on.

But Kimberly's past was brought up in subtle, if not completely ironic, ways. When driving to the mall, her eye caught glimpse of a red sports car that reminded her of Red Lightning. She couldn't help but stare as the sports car roared past her up the street, wondering to herself if this was some sort of sign.

When entering the mall, she found herself looking up at the logo for the mall, and then in the middle of it, a star. A star that was painted red. She had heard about the powers they gained after she left. Nevaeh commented on how pretty it looked, causing Kim to grimace and walk ahead of her confused daughter, trying not to break down in tears by the front doors.

As if that wasn't enough, when first splitting up with Nevaeh, she was wandering around aimlessly when she found herself face to face with a rather large portrait of many mythical beasts together. A green dragon being one of them. Oh, God was punishing her today, she thought.

"Not you again...", was all she whispered to herself as she turned her back to the portrait and rode the escalator down to the first floor.

But the topping on the proverbial cake came when she and Nevaeh left the mall. As they pulled out of the parking lot and into the streets to get to the main road that would lead them back home, Kimberly thought she had heard something funny, so she turned the radio off and looked to the skies from her roofless convertible.

Her face grew contorted in agony. She bit her lip so hard that she thought it might fall off. She closed her eyes and wished that she had never looked up. If this wasn't a sign from above, then nothing was.

What she had seen in the skies was a falcon. And it was white. So rare, yet so completely heart wrenching. Kimberly slammed the throttle forward and raced home, nearly scaring Nevaeh to death as she got out of the car as quickly as possible and stormed into her house, stomping her way into her room, slamming the door shut and locking it as she began to cry herself to sleep for the umpteenth time, wishing she had never read that damn letter about the reunion in the first place as she quickly passed out of existance and fell asleep.

xXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I know she got the letter. I know it. Why hasn't she called?", Jason wondered aloud as he finished up the last of the cleaning for the day.

Tommy still hadn't returned as originally thought by Jason. Where ever he was, he was doing a good job of making it out of place and obscure. Rocky and him were beginning to worry about their friend when suddenly Jason blurted out the sentence he had just said.

"I don't know man. Maybe she's too afraid to call you and say no? You check your e-mails recently?", Rocky asked his friend as he plopped down on the couch, exhausted after a few hours of hard cleaning and tidying up. The reunion and anniversary were both still six days away, but they had wanted their entire three headed apartment to look as presentable as possible.

"I checked them no less than ten minutes ago, man. Nothing", Jason said as he placed the broom in the corner and leaned up against the wall. "I think I'm gonna have to resort to drastic measures."

"Jason, don't even consider it. The last time you did that, Tommy wanted to kill you. Who knows what Kim would want to do to you if she found out", Rocky warned as Jason shook his head, knowing that what he was thinking of was the only way of getting her to come to Angel Grove.

"It's the only way, man. I'll deal with her wrath later. But there's no way she's missing everything. It's time she came to terms with her past and made up with Tommy. It's driving me insane seeing him like this", Jason said as he snickered and made his way over towards the couch next to Rocky, sitting down and grabbing the remote for the television.

"Lord knows how she must feel, practically being worlds apart and staying out of contact with him for so many years...Jason, I know this is real sudden, but you need to answer this for me while Tommy's not around", Rocky began as Jason perked up and looked at Rocky with vague interest, wondering what was up.

"Do you know anything about their break up that I don't know? Or anyone else, for that matter?"

A lump formed in Jason's throat. He was beginning to get that nausious feeling in his stomach. He got that feeling when he was either feeling sick or guilty, and he sure wasn't feeling sick. He knew that it would come up someday. How he went behind Tommy's back, took care of Nevaeh when Kim was off training for the Pan Globals and the Olympics. He wanted to tell everyone everything. But now wasn't the time.

"No, I don't know anything other than what we all know", Jason lied to Rocky's face.

"Are you sure?", Rocky asked inquisitively.

"Yeah man, totally", Jason barely got out as he swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Alright then. Are you sure you want to do this, though?", he asked, concerned of the ramifications.

"It's the only way. I'm not letting her slide on this one. She's coming down here, whether she likes it or not. And she's bringing Nevaeh down too", Jason said with such confidence, it was as if he had already accomplished the mission.

"Yeah, I wonder...wait, you want her to bring Nev down as well? Are you crazy!?", Rocky blurted out, while Jason suddenly realized what he was insinuating before throwing his hands up in defeat almost.

"He needs to know somehow. Her coming here is the one way he'll find out that he's her father. They all need to know, Rocko", Jason said with a sad smile on his face. It was true. The three of them needed to know everything.

"It's your funeral, Jase", Rocky muttered as he grabbed the remote and turned on Sports Center. "You better go do what you need to do now, man, before Tommy gets back."

"I'm getting on it right now. I'm sensing that she's asleep", Jason commented back as he stood up from his couch and walked into his room, quietly closing the door behind him as he heard Rocky calling out to him from the living room.

"You better hope you know what you're doing!", he said loudly.

"I hope that what I'm doing is right", Jason muttered to himself as he sat on the edge of his bed, closed his eyes, put his hands on his temples and began to focus his energy towards Jacksonville, Florida.

xXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

It was dark out, but the full moon was out, and so everything was lit up from the glow of the planet in the sky. It looked gorgeous.

A lone crane soared across the desolate and barren skies of Florida. Her feathers were a gentle mixture of white and light pink as she flew across the clouds. A pale white falcon, the one from before, flew close to her, circling her delicately as they flew together. Finally, a golden brown eagle joined them, powerful as she flew, letting out a scream of utter joy at being able to fly. Soon, the three birds faded into the distance of the purple skies, the falcon being the first to disappear, his howl of regret blisteringly echoing throughout the night. The eagle moved close to the crane, fear being shown through her movements as she too, faded away. The crane held on for a few more seconds as she moved closer to the moon, before letting out a cry as well, then finally disappearing into the night like the two birds had done before her.

Kimberly sat on the roof of her house, curled up into a ball, her knees pulled underneath her chin as her long brown hair waved in the air, sadness coloring her brown eyes as she watched in stunned silence. "I didn't think cranes would come to Florida. I didn't even know there were any in Florida at all."

"There is one, as you just saw," she heard a man speak behind her gruffly. "She doesn't belong here, though."

Kimberly turned her head around to look up at who it could possibly be. She was more than surprised to see Jason looking down at her, a small, sad smile on his lips as he sat down next to her.

"What're you doing here, Jason? Shouldn't you be making sure that Rocky doesn't eat the entire fridge?", she said timidly as her eyes stayed fixated on the skies.

"I needed to speak to you, and appearing here was the only means of communication. Hope you don't mind", he said sheepishly as he put his big arm around her.

"No, I don't mind at all. I don't know what to do with myself", she whispered. "I don't belong anywhere."

"Kim, don't say that. You know where you belong. You belong back home."

"The crane flew with the falcon once. She loved him madly. But she broke apart a long time ago and hasn't thought about it twice. I can't go back to California."

"But the eagle deserves to see it. She deserves to feel it. She deserves to experience it. She wants to go there and see how different it is."

"I can't go, I can't leave Florida. My life is here now. He'll come back to me eventually."

"No, it doesn't." Jason pointed out west, where many, many miles away, Angel Grove, California stood. "And no, he won't. If he loved you half as much as he said he did, he'd of came back within a few days."

"I don't understand why I'm not letting it affect me more. Sure, he didn't father Nevaeh, but we were crazy in love. I cried, but not nearly as much as I needed to."

"He wasn't your soulmate, Kim. Your soulmate is out there, back out west, waiting for you to return. You need to go back and see him."

"I can't do it. I don't want to see his reaction when I show up with Nev."

"Then, if anything Kimmie, come back to see your friends. They all asked me about you and want to see you desperately. You got the letter, you know about the reunion and anniversary. They all want to see Neveah as well. But they really want to see you."

"But what about Tommy? Does he want to see me?"

"I'm pretty sure he does. He needs to know everything. She is his daughter, after all."

"I just don't want to hurt him even more than I already have, Jase."

"That boy's been fighting evil for god knows how many years, and he just came off another fight not too long ago. He can't be hurt much more as it is."

"He went back to fighting evil again? What?"

"He became the Black Dino Ranger when he was living in Reefside, teaching at the high school. He taught four kids how to harness the power. They now protect Reefside. He even got his PhD in paleontology. But it doesn't matter anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"He went to the Fountain Of Time with me and Rocko. He's back to being twenty two again. He quit his job in Reefside and decided to help me and Rocky run the dojo back in AG. And if it means anything to you, he's got his long hair back."

"Wow..."

"The kids he taught will be there as well. I told him to invite them. It'd be nice for them to meet the originals."

"Are they good kids?"

"You know Tommy and his judgment. They're his children, so to speak. Conner is the Red Dino Ranger, the leader of the group. From what he's told me, Conner is a lot like me and Rocky. Then there's Ethan, the Blue Dino Ranger. Billy Jr, if you would. He's also got Adam's serenity. Then there's Trent, the White Dino Ranger. He's like Zack and Tommy, but more so Tommy in a brooding loner sense. And then finally, their's Tommy's favorite, Kira, the Yellow Dino Ranger. She's his favorite because she's got a mix of all of the females in her. But Tommy's told me that she mostly reminds him..."

"Of me."

"How'd you know?"

"I know Tommy pretty well, Jase."

"Well, yeah. I guess you do."

"Just not as well as I used to."

"Then come back to Angel Grove, little sis. Tommy won't admit it to me or Rocko, but he's clamoring for you to come back. He needs a release. We all do, Kimmie. You're the life of the party."

"You don't mean that."

"I most certainly do."

"I'll think about it." Kim stood up, biting her lip as she gave Jason a warm smile and a hug. "I'm pretty sure that this is all just a dream, but thank you for everything, Jase. I really miss you."

"I know. And I, you. Don't forget about your roots. Fly back to them, little sis. They'll welcome you back with open arms."

"Alright." Jason then disappeared in the blink of an eye, and the dream faded away as Kimberly slowly began to open her eyes, adjusting them to the sunlight entering her room. Slipping out of her bed, she padded over to the window and stared out at the Florida skyline, the place she had adopted as her new home. The buildings were bigger, the malls were busier, and the weather was warmer. But then she suddenly thought about Andrew. She thought she had loved him, but she didn't. All he got was her close friendship and her pregnancy. They were together as boyfriend and girlfriend for close to four years, before one day, he decided that it wasn't going anywhere, and left. By then, Nevaeh was growing up rapidly and Muranthias had come and passed. But in the end, it only made Kim long for Tommy's touch, his feel, everything even more. She had never told Andrew 'I love you', and it bothered her a bit, knowing she didn't feel the way for him as she did for Tommy years ago.

"That was when we were young and naive", Kimberly whispered as the sun slowly rose more and more. "We've both changed and moved on, for sure."

"Mom?"

Kimberly turned around to see Nevaeh standing in the room, her hair a mess after waking up, her t-shirt hanging off of her body as she rubbed her eyes and tried to wake herself up.

"Yes, Nevaeh?"

"I noticed the letter came from Angel Grove. Are we going to see everyone?"

Kim smiled at her daughter's pereception. She was a smart little gal. She knew things that most eleven years shouldn't. Kim could thank being a Power Ranger for that.

"Yeah, we're gonna go and see Uncle Jay and Uncle Rocky, and all of them", she whispered. "Our high school reunion is on that date and Uncle Jay wants me and you to come. There's nothing really left for me here..."

"That's great! I can't wait to see Aunt Isha and Uncle Jay again!"

"I'm sure they can't wait to see you either, Nev."

"I'm gonna make pancakes for breakfast, you want some?"

"Yeah, that'd be nice, baby. I'll call Mark and set everything up, alright?", Kim mused as she reached over for the phone and checked the time.

"Okay, I'll go start doing that then!", Nevaeh excitedly said as she ran into the kitchen and began to make the pancakes for the two of them.

Kimberly reached over for the phone on her table and began to dial a number that she had dialed many times in the past. It was June 17th, and it was ten in the morning. Hopefully the person she was calling was awake.

"Hey Mark, it's me Kim", she started after she got an answer. "You fully awake yet?...Yeah, alright, good to know...Hey listen, I know that this is kinda short notice, but do you think you could book me a flight from Jacksonville to Angel Grove, California as soon as possible? Can you do it? Yes, thank you, later this afternoon will work out perfectly...And a hotel too, if you can...You think you could come over and help us pack, too? Yeah? That's great! Thanks a lot, Mark, I'll see ya in a little bit...K, see ya!", Kim said hastily as she hung up the phone and walked into the kitchen, where Nevaeh was in the process of making the pancakes for breakfast.

"So, what did Mark say?"

"Looks like we're going to Angel Grove, darling."

"Really? Mark got us a flight?"

"Yeah, later this afternoon. He'll be over in about an hour to help us pack and drive us there. Do you think you could be showered and dressed within an hour?"

"You bet I could! The pancakes are almost done, I'm gonna go tidy up and get ready! Thanks a lot, Mom! I can't wait to see everyone again!"

"I just hope that they want to see us...", Kimberly whispered as she fought back a tear and finished making the pancakes for her and her daughter.

The rest of the morning went by rather quickly, as the two of them got themselves ready and began to pack things when Mark arrived to help out.

But as Kim was putting the rest of her jewelry away, she found a small, faded pink box. Opening it, she found a rose-colored quartz that was carved into the shape of a crane, which hung from a metallic silver chain, the eyes of the bird being diamonds. She looked at it through sorrowful eyes. Tommy had given it to her as a birthday present. She slipped it over her head as she wondered where it suddenly came from. She throught she had gotten rid of it a long time ago. Apparently not.

Kim walked into Nevaeh's room, and smiled at her daughter as she finished the last of her packing. "I'm all done, Mom. I'm ready to go back."

"Where'd you get that?", Kim asked as she pointed to the gold bracelet that was fastened on her daughter's wrist, with a buckle in the shape of an eagle.

"I just kind of found it a few minutes ago. It looked cool, so I put it on. Call me crazy, but I think I heard something drop this off when I was asleep last night", Nevaeh said with a smile on her lips.

"Oh. I see", was all Kim could manage before Mark walked into the hall and saw the two of them conversing.

"You ready to go, Hart's?", Mark asked as Kim picked up one of her bags and grabbed a hold of the other.

"As ready as I'll ever be", Kimberly sighed as she began the walk towards the front door, not believing that she was actually going through with this.

"I can't wait to see Uncle Jay and the rest of them again! This is so exciting, isn't it Mom!?", Nevaeh said, her voice uplifting as she was ready to get on the plane and go back to Angel Grove.

"Yeah...it sure is."

"So, you gonna keep in contact while your up there, Kimmie? How long you plan on staying?", Mark asked with a quizzical look on his face.

"I'm not quite sure. I might just live up there for good. I haven't made up my mind yet", Kim responded, knowing damn well that if she stayed in Angel Grove longer than she needed to, she'd try to kill herself.

"I don't think I can continue to live here by myself like this. I think it's time I went back home, but I just don't know."

"How can I contact you when you're in California, Kimmie?"

"I don't reckon you'll be able to. Take care of yourself and Marge while I'm away, I'll try to call when I'll be able to. I won't be able to promise a whole lot, however", Kim said as she reached over and gave the man a hug, breaking off and then glancing at the crane she had found. "I'll miss ya, but I just need to clear my mind and catch up on things."

"Jacksonville won't be the same without you and Nev around here."

"You'll manage, Mark. California is where I need to rediscover myself. Wish me good luck."

"The best of luck, Kimmie. Gonna miss watching you sprint by my house in nothing but your work out clothes", Mark said with a sly grin while Kimberly laughed.

"Oh, can it, Mark. Before you know it, I'll probably be back", she said, knowing that she might not want to return to Florida after going back to Angel Grove. "Are you ready to go, Nevaeh?"

"You know it, Mom! I can't wait to see California again!", she said excitedly as she threw the last of the bags into the back of the truck.

"Let's go then."

The drive to the airport was fairly quiet, as the three of them spent most of it exchanging memories from being together in Jacksonville so much. Getting through the airport and through security was pretty mundane as well, with Nevaeh not keeping her happiness hidden at being able to go back to her mother's birth place.

About an hour after they boarded their plane for Angel Grove, Nevaeh was asleep, as Kimberly just took the time to glance out at the skies, at the many clouds. One of them was abstractly shaped like Tommy's old insignia. The old tiger sign on his shield during his time as the White Ranger.

A tear rolled down Kim's face as she closed her eyes, knowing that she was going to dredge up a lot of pain and suffering when she eventually came face to face with Tommy. She could only say one thing before she herself began to doze off into a sleepy wonderland.

"I hope I'm doing the right thing..."

AN: And so, chapter two has come to an end! Hope you all enjoy, and I promise to have chapter three up ASAP! Enjoy!!


	3. Sooner Than You Think

Author Note: I do not own any of the characters involved in this story. Disney owns the Power Rangers, but they shouldn't because they won't release it on DVD. Any characters that seem new are new, and I do own them. Anything that is like another story you've read is purely coincidental. Thank you for taking the time to read this and thank you for any reviews and the like.

The road was long and winding, the wind was constantly whipping him in the face, but Tommy didn't care, as he just kept his brown eyes fixated on the highway in front of him, his destination still quite far away as he roared down route 56 in his jeep, starting to look around the front and back seats for his cell phone as he kept a steady hand on the wheel.

Jason was right in his assumption before. Tommy sure wasn't going back to the dojo. In fact, he hadn't come back at all yesterday. He just drove around and cleared his mind as much as he could before deciding upon his newest trek. He was going somewhere where Jason's telekinetic powers wouldn't reach him; Reefside. Jason had mentioned something about Reefside to Tommy the other day, wondering how the kids were doing. A lightbulb clicked in Tommy's head and then he was off.

Pulling off of route 56 and onto the section of the highway where he could get off in Reefside, Tommy had been wondering to himself for a while about how his students were. Well, considering he was 22 again, they weren't really his "students", but he they still called him Dr. O anyways. After forgetting he had put his phone in the glove compartment and realizing it in one thought, he pulled out his phone and dialed a familiar number and waited for an answer to come through.

"Hayley! Guess who", Tommy said with a surprising amount of happiness behind his words, considering his previous mood earlier in the morning and afternoon. "No, it's Anton Mercer. Of course it's me, Hayley! Who else would be calling you at the cafe at 12:45 in the afternoon on a Saturday?...Oh, very funny...Hey listen, can you do me a favor?...Yeah, can you see if the kids are there?...They are? Good...No, I don't wanna speak to them...I'll be driving into Reefside in about two seconds...Yeah, don't tell them that I'm coming...Alright, see ya in a few Hayley, thanks, bye", Tommy finished as he hung up his phone and threw it onto the passenger seat, driving into Reefside as he passed the "Welcome To Reefside" sign. A smile slowly managed to come across Tommy's lips as he brushed his long hair aside.

"Hope the kids are ready to hear what I gotta say..."

xXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The past few weeks in Reefside had been unusually quiet, even by their standards. And their standards were pretty high, though you wouldn't know that by looking at them. On the outside, they looked like four ordinary, normal teenagers that each had a hobby and a shared bond of friendship. But on the inside, they were just four in a long line of historic proportions. They were the Dino Rangers.

Conner McKnight, the leader of the group, the Red Dino Ranger. Tommy had taken a liking to him because of the similarities that he shared with Jason and Rocky, the first two Red Rangers on earth. Jason, because he made a great leader. Rocky, because he enjoyed life and was a riot to be around. Sure, he wasn't the brightest bulb in the room, but he was an honest kid who stuck up for his team and made an amazing leader, with a huge love for soccer. In fact, he had just finished running a camp a few weeks ago, and was gearing up for another.

Ethan James, the technological wizard of the group, the Blue Dino Ranger. Tommy was fond of him because just like Billy, Ethan was a huge computer whiz, incredibly smart and was always considered "geeky" because he was always in front of a computer or playing a video game. But he could also be quite sarcastic, a trait that reminded Tommy of Adam in his Zeo and Turbo Ranger days. Much like Conner though, he wasn't afraid to stick up for his friends and himself when they got pushed around. He had been working at Reefside Tech University in his spare time, and was looking forward to another semester there.

Trent Fernandez, the silent brooder of the group, the White Dino Ranger. Tommy was taken aback at how much Trent reminded himself of Zack in the sense that he was incredibly confident, but mainly because Tommy saw himself in Trent. The outcast of sorts, the one who didn't want the power in the first place. Tommy and Trent had a lot in common besides wearing white. He was an avid artist and was always drawing sketches of superheroes and the like, to rave reviews from everyone around him. He was considering moving to New York to further pursue his dream.

And finally, there was Tommy's absolute favorite of the four, Kira Ford, the only female of the group, the Yellow Dino Ranger. Tommy considered her his favorite because of the similarities that she shared with all of the female rangers before her. Trini, for her compassion towards others. Aisha, for her love towards animals. Tanya, for her eagerness to learn new things. Katherine, for her calmness and soft-spokeness. And finally, Kira mostly reminded him of her...Kimberly. A lot. She wouldn't be afraid to fire a witty retort if need be. She could be as sarcastic as Kim on her best day. She was incredibly stubborn. She openly displayed her emotions when it was necessary. Upbeat. Outgoing. Jubilant. They were both in love with the guitar and creative writing. And the fact that Kira shared the same dinosaur spirit as Kimberly had in the pterodactyl was the one thing that te away at him. Tommy saw so much of Kimberly in Kira, he found it hard to talk to her sometimes. But that's why he considered her his favorite.

"I don't know if I can continue to live like this", Ethan started, as he had his face and eyes attatched to a nearby comptuer, where he was playing some crazy looking game that involved blowing up asteroids. "I mean, one or two days without an attack is the norm, but two weeks? I think I'm starting to go crazy!"

"Ethan, would you keep it down? Do you want to reveal our secret to anyone else?", Kira said sternly as she punched Ethan's shoulder and rolled her eyes, while Trent and Conner entered the cafe through the side door and leaped over the couch, landing on it.

"You guys find anything while you were out?", Kira questioned, knowing what the answer was ahead of time. She just asked to assure herself of their answer.

"No", Trent and Conner both said at the same time. Conner had taken his Raptor Rider out across the northern and eastern parts of Reefside, where as Trent took his White Thunder ATV out to the southern and western parts of the city, and had come up with nothing. It was frustrating for the four of them, to say the least.

"Nothing at all?", Kira sighed, holding out a sliver of hope that they were lying and did indeed find something suspicious.

"Nothing at all, Kira. Just pavement, trees, woods and rivers", replied Conner, shuddering at that last bit about the rivers. He still hadn't gotten over his fear of water, and he didn't plan on doing it any time soon.

"Oh come on man. You seriously still aren't afraid of a little water, are you?", Trent teased as Conner shot him a serious look before shaking his head and rolling his eyes, ignoring Trent's comment. "It's not like the water's gonna form some giant monster and attack you when you're sleeping."

"In our line of work, don't be surprised if that's the next thing we encounter", Conner said bitingly as he reached for a bowl of popcorn on the table and began to eat it.

"I'll be surprised if we get any action at all at this rate", Ethan commented, his eyes never wavering from the computer screen.

"Well, you know what we've learned from Dr. O. Always expect the unexpected", Kira whispered as a few teenagers walked by, before she began to twirl her hair around her finger.

"Speaking of unexpected", Hayley piped in, feigning fake surprise as a certain someone walked in. "Look who it is guys!"

Trent, Kira and Conner all stood up from the couch, big smiles and looks of joy on their faces as Tommy entered, his long brown hair still tied up in a ponytail, decked in a white vest, white shirt, black pants and brown boots. They all gravitated towards him as they each gave him a hug and took a moment to look him up and down. Was this really the man that had been their science teacher not too long ago?

"Dr. O, is it really you?", Conner muttered incredulously, while Tommy merely nodded his head in response, which shocked Conner even more. "Dude, what's with the hair?"

"First off Conner, don't call me dude. Jason, Rocky, yeah they can, but don't call me dude", Tommy reprimanded Conner, who had a defeated look on his face as he continued to speak. "Second off, there's no need to call me Dr. O anymore. You can call me Tommy if you'd like. And thirdly, Ethan, what the hell are you doing that's so important for you to completely ignore your old science teacher and mentor?", he said, somewhat snapping at the absent minded Blue Dino Ranger, who turned around to see a man that barely resembled Dr. O.

"You're not Dr. O!", Ethan exclaimed as he stood up from his chair and walked over to the rest of the group, thouroughly examining Tommy front and back, side to side.

"Ethan, seriously, I don't really have the time for this at the moment. You know that it's me", Tommy muttered as Ethan stopped and stared at the back of his head, wondering where the long hair came from.

"Oh yeah? Prove it then."

Tommy shook his head and chuckled as he began to roll up the sleeve on his shirt to reveal a tattoo of a cross wrapped in barbed wire on his upper bicep with the initials of his brother, David Truehart, underneath the cross. Ethan then cracked a wiry smile as Tommy rolled the sleeve down and stared at his former student, dumbfounded.

"What was that all about, Ethan?"

"I just wanted to see the tattoo again, it's so cool! I know it's you, Dr. O, I was just messing around."

"You kids..."

"Kids?", Conner spoke up. "Kids? Du...Dr. O, you're practically as young as we are!"

"That may be true, but regardless, I've still seen many things that people shouldn't have to see in my life. I've been around", Tommy assured them, a sad smile on his face as he sat down on a recliner nearby.

"So what's with the sudden change in appearance? You look so funny with long hair like that. What'd you do to get like this?", Conner pestered on as Kira's eyes widened at the audacity of her friend and teammate, slapping him in the back of the head, as she couldn't believe how he still hadn't changed. "Ow! What was that for!"

"That's Dr. O's business, Conner, not ours. You really need to stop trying to invade other people's privacy like this. Dr. O will tell us when he wants to, and that's if he even wants to talk about it!", Kira exclaimed as Conner rubbed the back of his skull, as she had slapped him pretty hard.

"Hah, it's no biggie Kira, I don't mind telling it, but given the current setting, I don't think right now would be a good time to talk about it. Maybe later when we're by ourselves, but not now", Tommy whispered, insinuating that it was a ranger thing and had to be kept on the down low.

"So what brings you here to Reefside today, Dr. O?", Trent asked as he brought over five bottles of water and passed them to everyone as they began to encircle him, wanting to know the answer as well.

"Yes, why exactly are you here, Tommy?", piped in Hayley, pretending that she didn't know his motives for appearing here today. Tommy shot her a funny look and grinned as he turned to his prized students and let out a deep sigh, wondering where to begin.

"Well, I'm here today for one reason and one reason only. You've all seen my video diary, right?", he asked as the kids nodded their heads, while Hayley looked on to make sure that nobody was eavesdropping in on the conversation. "Alright then. As you all know", Tommy began, lowering his voice into a low hush to maintain the secrecy of his life. "I've been a Power Ranger since my days in high school. Basically my entire life has been dedicated to stopping evil. But now, since I'm retired along with the rest of the original eleven, pre-Turbo rangers, the original Red Ranger, Jason, has gathered us all together to celebrate our history. In layman's terms, it's Angel Grove's high school reunion. But it's also our anniversary as Power Rangers."

"Has it really been that long?", questioned Kira as Tommy nodded and and let a small laugh escape his voice box.

"Wow...your anniversary and high school reunion, all at once. That's amazing!", exclaimed Ethan as Trent quickly put his hand over Ethan's mouth to get him from saying any more than was necessary.

"Not so loud, smart one! That's two times today in the past twenty minutes!", Trent said as he scolded Ethan, looking slightly irritated with the Blue Dino Ranger.

"Jeez, I'm sorry if I'm the only one that finds all of this information amazing", Ethan said as he defended himself, removing Trent's hand from the area around his mouth.

"Dude, even I know not to talk about ranger stuff out in public like this, let alone announce it to the entire world", Conner said as Ethan gave him an incredulous look of shock.

"Ahh, looks like being the leader actually did teach you something!", Ethan teased as Conner began to sit up, only to be waved off by Tommy, who was growing frustrated with them. But then again, he remembered, he and Jason were in the same stage in high school; now look at them.

"Enough of that, you two. I don't want anymore of that. Now, onto what I was going to say. Our reunion and anniversary are on the same date, June 22nd. I know that you four are already out of school, so I was wondering...", he trailed off as his gaze met Kira's eyes and he has a quick flash of Kimberly, shaking his head to get the image out of there.

"Wondering what?", Kira asked intently as she and the three boys were now practically piled on top of Tommy, wanting to know the question he was about to pose to them.

"Sorry, got side tracked a bit. I was wondering...I was wondering if you four would be willing to come to Angel Grove to meet your ancestors, so to speak."

"Wait, WHAT?", yelled out Conner, as the other three didn't even try to bother to quiet him. They were all stunned by what Dr. O had just said to them. Hayley smiled as she wiped down the counter and tended to a guest, knowing that this was all something the kids hadn't expected.

"You want us...to meet your friends...the original Power Rangers?", stuttered Ethan.

"The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers?", stammered Trent, not believing a word that his former teacher was saying.

"This is so totally cool...", Kira muttered as she began to think of the possibilites.

"Yeah. That's only if you four want to come. You don't have to if you don't want to", Tommy said with a cheshire cat-looking grin on his face, knowing that by saying that, he'd get the reaction he anticipated on getting.

"OF COURSE we want to go to Angel Grove!", the four of them yelled as Hayley couldn't help but laugh, even as she tried to supress it, while a few other kids craned their necks and gave the five of them confused looks.

"Can you guys keep it down over there? Me and Devin are trying to go over our plans for the next news broadcast, and we need our concentration!", Cassidy Cornell yelled out from the other side of the cafe, where her and Devin were writing stuff down on paper to prepare themselves. Devin's head shot up and he offered the five of them an apologetic look on his face before Cassidy grabbed him and forced him to look at what she had written down, while Tommy and the kids laughed on.

"Huh. Good to see that some things never change", he muttered as he looked each of the four kids in the eye, sensing that they were just completely overwhelmed with excitement and anticipation of meeting the original Power Rangers. "So, you guys are all up for coming to Angel Grove and meeting them all?"

"You bet! I wanna meet the first Red Ranger so bad!", exclaimed Conner.

"I can't wait to meet Billy! He sounds like my kind of guy!", said Ethan gleefully.

"I just can't believe that we're getting to meet all eleven of them", whispered Trent as he did his best to hide his elation. But Kira had a somewhat sad look on her face, like something had just come to realization for her.

"Um, Dr. O, can I speak to you for a second? In private?", she nervously asked as she bit her lip and glanced at Conner, that being his cue for himself, Ethan and Trent to go talk to Hayley while the two had a moment to speak.

"Yeah, sure thing Kira. What's on your mind, kiddo?", Tommy asked, unaware of the bomb that Kira was about to drop on him.

"Now, when you said that all eleven of the original Power Rangers were going to be there...how many females are there?", she said, not making eye contact with him while her words completely shocked him.

"Kira, why would you ask a question like that?"

"Because Dr. O, if you haven't already noticed, I'm the only female of the group as far as the rangers go. It's cool and all being around those guys, because they're all great guys...", Kira said trailing off, taking a longing glance at Trent before Tommy snapped his fingers to get her out of her trance. "Sorry, Dr. O."

"It's fine, Kira. I understand how you feel and where you're coming from. It's kind of like being all by yourself while the others do their thing together. Trust me, that's what it was like for me when I first joined the team as the Green Ranger. The only person that really gave me a chance was..."

"Kimberly. The first Pink Ranger."

"How'd you figure?"

"She's the one ranger you don't really feel like discussing when you bring up you're ranger friends. That's why."

"Oh...I didn't know I made it so obvious sometimes..."

"Do you still harbor any feelings for her, Dr. O?"

Tommy fell silent Kira's question. He could easily tell her the truth and tell her that he had never stopped loving her after she left, after the letter and after the whole Muranthias incident. Or he could lie out of his ass and tell her that he had moved on and didn't care for her that much anymore. But he figured that she deserved to know. She was too much like Kim to not know. The question she had asked dignified it.

"You want the truth, Kira? The honest to God truth?"

"It'd be nice to know what goes on in your head, yeah. You always dance around it whenever she's brought up."

"I'll tell you, and only you, Kira. I don't want any of the boys finding out. They'll find out soon enough."

"Why only me?"

"Because I see a lot of Kimberly in you, Kira. It's why I consider you my favorite out of the four of you. I know that's kind of rediculous, picking a favorite, but you are that one. There's so many similarities between you and her that I'm able to pick out, it's as if you're an extension of her almost."

"So does that mean you still have feelings for her, after all of these years apart?"

"Yeah. To put it in one word, yeah. I do. I've never stopped loving her, Kira. And I never will stop loving her."

"Wow, Dr. O...That's really deep. How long has it been, again?"

"Far too long, Kira. Far too long. We'll talk about it in depth some other time, now isn't the right place."

"Alright, Dr. O. So, how many of the original female rangers going to be there? Are any of them even coming?"

"Yeah, all fi...four of them will be there. There's Trini, the original Yellow Power Ranger, Aisha, her successor, Katherine, Kim's successor, and Tanya, the Yellow Zeo Ranger and first Yellow Turbo Ranger. So you won't be alone as far as the girls go. You'll love them all, trust me."

Kira smiled and shook her head, happy to know that she was going to be able to talk to the original female rangers and get to know them. But she almost overlooked the one thing Tommy had said. Four. There was five of them. He was leaving her out.

"Why did you only say four, Dr. O? There were five original female Power Rangers. You left Kimberly out because...?"

"Because, Kira. I don't think she's going to come. She's seemingly forgotten about that phase of her life. It's as if she never lived in Angel Grove, never met any of us, never loved me, never became a Power Ranger, none of it. The only person she keeps any remote contact with is Jason, the original Red Ranger and my best friend. She only keeps contact with him because they grew up together and have known each other their entire lives. She's practically his little sister. But the last time he had spoken to her was months and months ago when he first thought of the idea, and she said that her life in Florida was too hectic to go back."

"Too hectic? What could she possibly mean, too hectic?"

"I think it was her way of saying that she didn't want to see anyone, especially me. It was almost as if she was hiding something, but I didn't bother to ask him about it. I just let it be."

"I'm sorry, Dr. O. I wish there was a way me or the others could help out. I never knew that your emotional attatchment to her ran so deep."

Tommy glanced at Kira and deeply sighed, a small, wry grin on his face as he shook his head, while Kira inched closer and gave her former teacher and mentor a hug, a sad look on her face as she gripped his neck tightly. Her heart went out for him. But he was a strong individual, and he'd eventually get over it. As she released herself from the hug, the boys slowly walked back over, hoping that the conversation between the two of them was over.

"So, are you alright, Dr. O? I caught a quick look, you didn't seem to be all that happy", noted Conner, who quickly recieved a stern look from Kira, who was mouthing for him to shut up and leave him alone.

"I'm fine, Conner. Thanks for your concern", whispered Tommy as he kept his eyes fixated on the skies as he gazed out at them.

"When did you say your high school reunion was, Dr. O?", asked Ethan.

"June 22nd, but I figured that since everyone won't be arriving for at least another two to three days, I'd bring you all up now so you could at least meet the first and only two Red Power Rangers. If you want to go now, that is", said Tommy as he arched himself back up and then slumped onto the back of the couch, reclining himself back. The look on the kids faces told him their answers.

"Are you serious? Right now? Yeah, that'd be awesome!", exclaimed Trent as he pumped his fist and exchanged a high five with Conner and Ethan.

"Well first off, before anything else, how's it been here? Anything I should know about? I don't want to take you away and leave Reefside unguarded should something come up", said Tommy with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Don't worry about it, Dr. O. Conner and Trent were out earlier and surveyed the entire city, and came up with nothing. We're practically begging for some action", Kira expressed her displeasure with no fights having taken place lately. "It's been two weeks since we last had a battle."

"Are you sure?", Tommy asked as the kids all nodded their heads. He blew a sigh of relief as he stood up from the couch and stretched out his limbs, a yawn escaping as he watched the kids stand up as well. "Alright then, if that's the case, then I don't see a problem with you guys coming up to Angel Grove for the next week and a half or so. But bring your morphers and communicators just in case. Hayley, you'll be alright with me taking the kids, right?"

"I don't have a problem with it at all, Tommy. If anything is to arise here, I'll get a hold of them in a heartbeat", Hayley commented as she saw how happy the four of them were with this opportunity. "Sure, I'll miss having them around, but if it makes them happy, then I'm fine with it. Just bring them all back in one piece", she joked as Tommy chuckled. "Don't worry Hayley, they'll all come back just fine. My friends don't bite. Well, Rocky might, but everyone else doesn't."

"Man, this is incredible! I can't believe that we're actually going to meet the originals! This is going to be so great!", Conner said excitedly as his mind raced with all the possibilities.

"Well, you kids better go get yourselves packed and ready, because I'm gonna head back to Angel Grove soon. So how about you all go home now, pack for the duration of the trip and meet me back here in about an hour or so?", asked Tommy, but before he had even finshed, the kids were already running for the door, not wanting to waste any time.

"One step ahead of ya, Dr. O!", exclaimed Ethan.

"We're going right now!", yelled Trent.

"Don't worry about us, we'll be back before you know it!", hollered Conner. Kira stayed behind to talk to Tommy one last time though, before leaving.

"Dr. O, are you sure you don't want to talk more about her?", she said simply as Tommy nodded his head and patted her on the shoulder.

"We'll talk, don't worry. We'll have plenty of time to talk. Go, Kira. Get prepared and meet me back here. Don't wanna keep the guys waiting", he chuckled as she gave him another hug and then ran to meet up with the gang, while Tommy smiled and reached for his phone, dialing the number to the apartment.

"Yeah, Rocko? It's me, Tommy. Tell Jason that I'm on my way back. And I hope you two don't mind me bringing a few visitors..."

xXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The Command Center had been under heavy repair over the past few years, as it had to be started from scratch all over again. After it had been destroyed in the explosion caused by Goldar and Rito Revolto, repairs had slowly been made to make sure that it was back where it belonged. The past few years, with Angel Grove once again being deemed safe and devoid of any evil monsters, was perfect for the repairs to be done.

Inside the vaunted and legendary center, Alpha 5 is seen standing over one of the control panels, a ray gun-looking device in his hands as he worked on the wiring within the panel, trying to get the teleportation online again. Why?

"For safe measures", Alpha said to himself. "Safe measures is what I plan on making sure are intact around here. Sure, there are no more monsters and evil forces attacking Angel Grove anymore, and there hasn't been a ranger team here in years, but you never know. Everything can change in the blink of an eye!"

Alpha stopped what he was doing and placed the ray gun down, and began to test the wiring and the panels. When he heard a beep, he knew that he had gotten it back online.

"Hooray! Telportation is now back online once more. Now if I could just get communication working as well..."

As Alpha robotically moved over to another panel, he stopped in the middle of the floor, the light blinking underneath him as he surveyed the futuristic surroundings. The lights in the wall were fully operational again. The columns were looking as pristine as ever. And then...there was the matter of the huge, empty energy tube that rested in front and center in the place. Alpha let out a depressed sigh as he glanced at it longingly.

"Oh Zordon, don't worry. I'm working my hardest to bring you back into all of our lives. I will not fail you, Zordon. I will make sure you are amongst us once again", he sighed as he began to reminisce about all the times he and his mentor had shared during their many years together as a team. But the sudden whir of alarms going off inside the Command Center snapped Alpha from his thoughts and concerned him as he started to think about what could possibly be happening.

"Ay yi yi, the alarms going off!? I haven't heard these alarms go off in years! What could be the problem for these to start going haywire!?", he exclaimed as he turned his attention to the newly constructed viewing globe. "Viewing globe, pinpoint source of problem, now!"

Within seconds, the globe began to rotate like the earth itself, in an effort to find the exact place where the disturbance was taking place. The columns were flashing red lights, a sign that something very grave had risen. Moments later, the viewing globe stopped spinning and the projection it showed was that of the moon. "Oh no...", Alpha began to think to himself, knowing that only bad things could come from the moon.

But the viewing globe showed nothing except the bare surface of the moon. A few craters, holes, rocks, and the American flag were shown, but nothing else. Alpha began to wonder to himself about what could have caused the disturbance.

"That's funny. Nothing's wrong with the moon!", the little robot stated as he continued to glance at the images in the viewing globe, the alarms having subsided by now, the columns no longer flashing red. "Hmm...well, the new alarm system is still in it's infancy, and it's going to need some time to fully work out the kinks...it was probably just a false alarm...", mused Alpha as the images of the moon faded away from the globe and Alpha began to work on getting communication back. "Nothing to worry about, Alpha...", he said as he resumed his work.

Meanwhile, in space, a cloaked figure holding a broadsword in it's hand grinned sadistically to reveal glowing red eyes and sinister looking sharp white teeth. Ahead of it was a building being constructed by many minions and peons. It was getting closer.

"Go ahead, you insignificant little worm...be lulled into your false sense of security...it'll only make you and the earth's downfall even sweeter...", the creature growled as he slammed the sword down on to the gravely surface of the moon and began to continue work.

xXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Are we there yet, Dr. O?"

"You asked that twenty minutes ago, Conner."

"Seriously though, are we there yet?"

"Why can't you just be patient, man? Dr. O knows where he's going!"

That had been the standard conversation between Tommy and his Dino Rangers the entire ride, with Conner pestering and bugging Tommy every twenty to thirty minutes about where they were and if they would be arriving soon. The first two or three times were understandable, but now Conner was just irritating everyone with his nonstop questioning.

"Are you happy now, Conner? We're here!"

"This is it? This is what we came all the way from Reefside for?"

"Conner...either you shut up right now, or I'll make you walk all the way back home, alright?"

"God damn it, Conner, why do you have to be such an ass sometimes?", said Kira as she digustedly rolled her eyes and slapped Conner's arm as they all went around to the back of Tommy's jeep and began to take their bags out.

"I'm just saying, sheesh. It wasn't what I expected it to be", Conner muttered to himself as he reached for his bag and slung it over his shoulder, not wanting to be heard and caught in the middle of Kira's onslaught.

"Don't let the outside of the dojo decieve you, guys, it's...", Tommy started as he pushed open the doors to the building and the four kids ran in like it was the first day of school all over again, giddy and excited at being here.

"IT'S HUGE!", yelled Trent at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing off the walls as he did so. "This place is beautiful, Dr. O! How did you and your friends manage to afford such a place?"

"Years of wisely saving our money, Trent. Being a Power Ranger gives you that sense of responsibility for all forms of life during your time wearing the suit. Fiscal responsibility was one of them", Tommy said as he remembered a time when him, Jason and Rocky were still in high school and thought about doing this. Now look at them. Business was booming. They were able to afford the apartment above them. Life was great. For those two, at least.

"So, when're we gonna meet the first two Red Rangers of earth?", asked Ethan as he looked really jittery or excited, Tommy couldn't tell. "I wanna learn so much from them!"

"YOU want to learn from them? I'm the one that's wearing their color! If you're excited to see them, then I'm super mega uber totally excited to see them!", exclaimed Conner as he rubbed his hands together as a means of trying to calm himself down.

"Guys, would you please calm down? I'm sure that they'll make their presences known eventually", said Kira calmly, as her and Trent's eyes met briefly, a sly smile on his lips as she blushed, turning a shade of pink while she turned away from him. Tommy couldn't help but notice this out of the corner of his eye, as it reminded him of...himself and her. He let out a small chuckle before a penetrating voice filtered through the air.

"Sooner than you think, kiddo."

Shrouded by the darkness stood two men, both wearing red as evidenced by their pants. As the emerged from the shadows, the kids stood in awe at who was standing before them. So much that they literally all dropped their bags from their hands onto the mats, they were that shocked. If they thought that being in the presence of Dr. O was awesome, being in the presence of these two was simply breathtaking.

"Omigod...", whispered Kira as she covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide with pure shock.

"I don't believe it", muttered Trent incredulously, his jaw dropped and blinking rapidly.

"This is better than getting the code from Beldorf", said Ethan as he raised his arms and then shoved his hands right into his pockets.

"I feel like I'm standing in the presence of royalty", Conner said as his face turned as red as the suit he wore.

Tommy couldn't help but laugh at how his students and Dino Rangers were reacting to seeing Jason and Rocky stand there, and the two of them hadn't even said a word to them yet, other than what Jason uttered a minute or so ago. But the looks on their faces was all that was needed to make Tommy happy and to get his mind off of his past.

"Guys, I think you've heard of these two gentlemen before me. They're really good friends of mine, and obviously, we all run this dojo and live in the triple headed apartment complex above it. But I'll stop talking and let them introduce themselves."

"Jason Lee Scott", Jason said as he stepped forward and patted Tommy on the shoulder, a genuine smile on his lips as he continued to speak. "First ever Red Ranger and leader of the Power Rangers. I was also the Gold Zeo Ranger as well. Me and Tommy...we go way back. Best friends since high school. I'll fill you all in on our history later, though", Jason finished as he stepped back and let Rocky step forward and introduce himself to the kids.

"Rocky DeSantos. Obviously, I was Jason's replacement as the Red Ranger, and I later went on to become the Red Ninja Ranger with the power of the ape, and then the Blue Zeo Ranger. I had to retire from ranger duty when I seemingly broke my back, right before the team got their Turbo powers, but since then I've opened the dojo with these two and fully healed to the point where it was like I was never injured. Like Jason, I'll fill you in on the rest later."

"So, what do you think, kids?", Tommy asked as they all just continued to stare at them in awe. It was like they were in the middle of a dream and didn't want to wake up. He had to resort to snapping his fingers in front of their faces to get them out of their stupor, all while him, Rocko and Jase got a good laugh at it. "Well, you gonna answer my question or not?"

"Dude! You two are my heroes!", exclaimed a giddy Conner, not being able to keep his joy hidden anymore with being in the presence of his anscestors.

"It is certaintly an absolute pleasure to meet you and be in your company", Kira said politely, bowing her head and giggling at seeing these two in front of her.

"I just can't believe this is happening right now", was all Ethan could manage to get out as he looked everywhere, his eyes finally settling on the two Red Rangers in front of him.

"This is great. That's all I've got. This is so great", said Trent honestly as he shook his head, convincing himself that it indeed was real.

"Glad to know, guys. Come on, grab your bags and we'll head upstairs. There you can learn everything from these two old war horses", said Tommy with a smile and a laugh as the kids picked up their bags and followed the three ranger legends to the elevator to learn all about their history.

xXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The building was finally complete. The minions and underlings were finally allowed to rest and marvel at what they had managed to rebuild on the moon. Large, stone pillars with the face of the devil on some, some with the pentagram on them. The building took up a great deal of space and surface on the moon, but what did it matter? The moon was their own personal playground.

Staring out at earth from one of the many balconies, Lord Zedd, as evil and alive as ever, used his extended vision to look down at Angel Grove and spy on the Dino Rangers and the three original rangers that were a constant thorn in his side. He growled at the sight of them, but that growl subsided when he saw the four kids. The growl turned into diabolical laughter.

"Enjoy your peace and serenity while you can, you pathetic humans", Zedd spewed venomously as he retracted the ray from his visor. "Because the time is nearly upon us all. My forces are nearly at one hundred percent. And when that happens...NOTHING WILL BE ABLE TO STOP ME! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Angel Grove was in for a world of trouble all over again. But this time...nobody was around to save it.

AN: Sorry to leave you all on such a cliff hanger, but chapter 4 will be when the juicy stuff begins (emphasis on begins) to come out. Thank you for reading and chapter 4 will be out ASAP! Thanks again!


	4. Pretty Pink Dress

**Author Note: I do not own any of the characters involved in this story. Disney owns the Power Rangers, but they shouldn't because they won't release it on DVD. Any characters that seem new are new, and I do own them. Anything that is like another story you've read is purely coincidental. Thank you for taking the time to read this and thank you for any reviews and the like.**

"So tell us about how you first became a Power Ranger! Tell us everything, don't leave out any details!"

Conner, Kira, Ethan and Trent were now all sitting on the large couch in the adjoined living room between Rocky, Jason's and Tommy's own apartments. Tommy was out on the balcony speaking to someone on the phone, figuring that it was best to leave the kids with Jason and Rocky and listen to their respective histories. Conner was the one who was the one who was most anxious to hear their stories, considering the color he wore was once worn by the two men in front of him. The rest were just fascinated to be sitting in the same room as the first two earth-bound Red Rangers. Rocky, looking at Jason with amusement on his face, grinned as he cleared his throat.

"Well, you were the first ever leader and the first ever to wear the color, you might as well go first, man."

Jason gave Rocky a look of puzzlement, but then shook his head and snickered then began to divulge his entire life as a Power Ranger.

"Ahhh, alright...hmm, where do I begin...", Jason started as he thought long and hard about everything that he was about to reveal to the kids. "Well, to start off, I was born here in Angel Grove on October 20th, 1970...", he got out before Conner cut him off rudely.

"Wait, you're thirty something years old? How come you look like you're 22 then?"

"Conner! What is it with you today? Did you leave your brain back in Reefside?", exclaimed Kira as she gave him an incredulous look, amazed that he would just blurt out something like that. "Are you that fucking stupid, Conner? Seriously? The man's trying to tell us about how he became a ranger, and you have to ask something like that?"

"Would you just back the hell off, Kira? Sheesh, all you've been doing is jumping on my case about everything! Leave me alone, damn it!"

"Wooah guys and girl, calm down, will ya? I don't mind, Kira. It's a good question, but one that will be answered soon enough. Lighten up a little, gal. No wonder why Tommy always compares you to Kimberly."

That comment made Kira blush and caused the three boys to stare at her like she had three heads or something. Quickly noticing that they were all gawking at her, she got up and walked to the bathroom to splash some water on her face and to collect herself before making her way back out to the couch. The boys were still staring at her, amazed that she had just been compared to the original Pink Ranger, and this caused Kira to become uncomfortable.

"Why are you three still staring at me!? You act as if you've never heard one ranger get compared to another!", she snapped at the three boys, while Jason and Rocky tried their best to contain their laughter, finally pushing it aside so that Jason could continue on.

"Boys, stop staring at Kira, it isn't polite. And Kira, relax, it's alright, Tommy doesn't mean to do it, he just sees so many similarities between the both of you that he can't help but compare you two. Anyways, moving on...", Jason stated as he scratched his chin, the kids turning their gazes back onto him as they waited for his every word.

"Well, as I was saying, I was born on October 20th, 1970 and I was born and raised here in Angel Grove, California. So by law, I'm thirty something years old, but yes, I have the body of a twenty two year old. Long story, I'll tell you all some other time, or I'm sure Tommy will. So my life was pretty normal until I started going to grade school. It was there that I met Kimberly, in the first grade. I remember it as if it were yesterday...", Jason trailed off as he closed his eyes and remembered one of the earliest memories from his childhood.

* * *

_The kids were running around the classroom, playing with the various toys scattered around on the floor. That or they were making finger paintings on the desks that were lined up in a circle. It was recess for Ms. Walker's first grade class, and the kids were taking full advantage of it and having as much fun as their little hearts desired, while Ms. Walker was seen going over some memo's from the front office at her desk._

_At one of the desks we see a cute little girl, no more than five years old, with a pink bow in her hair, wearing blue coveralls with a pink shirt underneath making a finger painting of a rainbow. She seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself, until a boy wearing a tiny pleather jacket, black pants and tiny black boots walked up to the girl and took away some of her paints and laughed, while the girl protested to the boy to give them back._

"Skull, stop it! I was making that painting for my mom! I need those colors!", the little Kimberly Ann Hart yelped as the little Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch waved a few tubes of paint above her head as she tried to leap for it, but couldn't reach it. "Come on Skull, **stop**!"

"Aww, what's the matter? Poor little Kimberly can't finish her painting for her Mommy. Tell me that I'm the cutest boy in the class and I'll give them back to you!", said Skull as he smirked and teased Kimberly by waving the tubes in her face as she began to grow increasingly upset.

"I'd never say that about someone as icky as **you**!", said Kimberly as she made another veiled attempt to grab the paints, only to come up empty handed again. Just then, a boy with black hair and a red shirt walked over to the two of them and tapped Skull on the shoulder.

"Skull, leave the girl alone. She was minding her business until you came over", the young Jason Lee Scott said as Skull turned to face Jason and sneered at his sight. He dropped the paints on the table, still out of Kim's reach, and got in the young Jason Lee Scott's face.

"Who are you to tell me to leave her alone?", Skull defiantly asked as Jason stood there and stared, looking unimpressed with Skull's faux toughness and false bravado.

"Just leave her alone."

"Oh yeah? Make me!"

_Jason simply smirked, and in a comical moment, grabbed hold of the bandanna that was wrapped around Skull's neck. Sensing that something bad was going to happen to him, Skull tried to run, but Jason never released his hold on his bandanna, and thus Skull soon found himself flat on his back, crashing to the floor with a loud thud. He groaned as he stared up at the lights and the ceiling, but then found Jason's face hunching over his, a grin plastered there._

"I believe this belongs to you", he said as he folded Skull's bandanna and placed it on his stomach, but before Jason could say anything else, Skull had hurridly crawled back to his feet and proceeded to inch his way to the other side of the room, a scared look on his face as he stared at the ground and didn't dare make eye contact with either one of them. Jason then sighed and grabbed the paints for Kimberly and put them down back in front of her, the look on her face that of glee as she watched Skull slink to the other part of the room. "Thanks...you didn't need to do that. I was fine."

"Think nothing of it...?", Jason began to ask, in a not-so-direct way of asking Kimberly for her name. She giggled and politely extended her hand towards him for a handshake.

"My name is Kimberly. Kimberly Hart."

Jason let out a sigh of relief as he took her hand and shook it, glad to know this girl's name without having to stumble through a series of questions to get to know it. "Nice to meet you, Kimberly. My name is Jason. Jason Scott."

"Very nice to meet you, Jason...", _and with that the memory faded from Jason's mind, and was tucked deeply into the back of his head, where all his other memories of his time spent with the rangers were kept._

* * *

"And that's how I met one Kimberly Ann Hart."

The Dino Rangers stared in awe at what the original Red Ranger had just told them, realizing that he wasn't afraid to get very sentimental and in-depth with his memory bank, as he just did. Jason rolled his eyes and nonchalontly smiled, remembering what it was like to be their age as well. He snapped his fingers and immidiately brought the kids out of their trances. They stared at him amazingly as Rocky just couldn't help but laugh at what he was seeing before him.

"I think you've got them wrapped around your every word, Jase."

"You'd think so too, huh?"

"You actually did that to that poor kid?"

Jason smirked. He figured that would come up.

"If you knew how Skull was back then, all the way through high school, until he cleaned up and joined the police force, you'd understand my reasoning for doing it. And besides. Kim's my little sister. I'll defend her in a moment's notice."

"Wow", was the only thing the kids said, in unison and emphatically.

"Well there's a lot more to your life than **THAT**", remarked Rocky as he playfully shoved Jason, hinting that he wanted to hear him relive his life again as much as the kids did.

"Right, yes", he said as he shook his head and subsequently shook the grin off his lips. "So it was in the first grade that I met Kim, but it wasn't until the fourth grade where I met the other original rangers; Zack, the Black Ranger, Trini, the Yellow Ranger, and Billy, the Blue Ranger. Needless to say, we all hit it off as soon as we all met. You had Zack, the life of the party. Billy, the technological wizard. Trini, the compassionate one. Me, the 'leader', so to speak. And then, you had Kim, the...", he trailed off as he looked down at his feet, remembering what it was like to be together with the four of them so many years ago as he bit his lip.

"The heart of the group", Rocky finished for him as Jason nodded and silently thanked him for getting that point across. "Yeah, that she was. So we all stayed closely together through grade and middle school, until it happened", Jason said as the kids brows furrowed with confusement.

"Until what happened?", asked Kira innocently.

"Until we got the call. Until we were chosen."

The Dino Rangers leaned back in the couch and, through wide eyes and dropped jaws, realized what Jason was talking about. They were now learning the very origins of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The originals. The first protectors of earth. Their anscestors.

"When did you get chosen?", Conner quietly questioned, a small tinge of eagerness behind it.

"During the summer, about a month and a half or so before we were to start our freshman year at Angel Grove High. I remember that day clearly as well. We were at Ernie's Juice Bar, the Youth Center. It was our central hangout post when we were in high school. Kim was on the balance beam, practicing her gymnastics. Trini was going over some kung fu kata's. I was teaching a karate class that emphasized self discipline and respect. Zack was my sparring buddy for part of the class. And Billy was taking part in my class to learn the ways of martial arts. Then Bulk and Skull showed up."

"Wait, this Skull dude had a friend named Bulk?", chuckled Trent, while Ethan did the same. "What would posess a parent to name their kids Bulk and Skull?", chortled Ethan.

"Their real names weren't Bulk and Skull. Skull's is Eugene, but he got the nickname from his last name, Skullovitch. And Bulk's real name is Farkas Bulkmeier. He obviously derived the nickname from the same place", stated Jason as now all four kids were laughing at the names of the two people who used to make life a little uneasy for Jason and his friends. But during the course of the laughter, Kira glanced over her shoulder to see that Tommy was still out on the balcony, but by now he had stopped talking on the phone and was just staring at the skies, dead to the world around him. The thought only swam in her head for a moment, but the fact that she was thinking it was a tad troubling enough as she turned back to listen to Jason again.

_"I wonder what he's thinking about..."_

"So anyways", continued Jason. "Bulk and Skull showed up, obviously up to no good. They saw Trini and Kim and instantly thought that they could try to be all cutesy with them. Zack showed up and told them to buzz off, but the girls ended up flipping Bulk and Skull onto their backs on the mats. About an hour later, those two decided that they would try to cause trouble AGAIN, this time interrupting my class and trying to push Billy around until I stepped in. I showed Bulk a few moves, and just like before, he ended up flat on his back trying to emulate me. So after me, Billy and Zack got changed, we met the girls and began to chat casually about the day's events. And then I remember the ground shaking. Rita Repulsa, the queen of evil and the force which we had to deal with at first, had just brought her moon palace up from the ground and was throwing off the balance of the earth's rotation. Then it just happened."

"Then what happened?", Conner barely whispered, his face being held up by his hands as his elbows rested on his knees, while the kids leaned in as well and listened in.

"I remember all five of us trying to get everyone out of the Youth Center to safety, because it just felt like the right thing to do. So then, as the five of us tried to exit ourselves, I felt a tingling sensation go up the base of my spine and throughout my entire body. I tried to run but it was like I was glued to the ground, and I just remember looking over at Zack and seeing the horrified expression when his feet dissappeared and became nothing but sparkles of black light. I looked at my arm and saw nothing but a read streak, almost like a lightning bolt. Kimberly and Trini shrieked and the next thing I knew, I was a red streak of light and I was flying over Angel Grove. I thought we were all dead or something, you know? So after flying for what seemed like forever, we finally landed on our asses in the original Command Center. And that's where we met them."

"Zordon and Alpha 5?", asked Ethan, wondering if the two mythological beings did exist.

"Yeah, Zordon and Alpha. I just can't believe it's been so long since our first meeting. But anyways, we get there and I remember being so freaked out at seeing a real life robot that could speak and seeing a floating head inside of a giant tube. After we all asked the obvious "Where are we, we're lost teenagers and we're scared shitless" questions, Zordon explained to us that Rita had been let out of her evil space dumpster on the moon and that her palace was built. She was ready to attack earth and take over. He then told us that he had chosen us to be the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and then assigned us our colors and Zords. I was named the leader, the Red Ranger, and was given the powers of the Tyrannosaurus, and Billy was named the Blue Ranger and given the powers of the Triceratops", Jason said, glancing over at Conner and Ethan, both of whom were meekly smiling at the fact that they possesed the same color and dinosaur spirit as the originals. "Zack was the Black Ranger and given the powers of the Mastodon, Trini, the Yellow Ranger, was given the powers of the Saber-Toothed Tiger, and finally, Kim was the Pink Ranger and given the powers of the Pterodactyl", Jason finished as he then took a glance at Kira, who was blushing again at the hidden comparison to her and Kimberly. "It's okay, Kira. Kim blushed too when she found out that her dinosaur spirit could fly."

"I, uh...yeah..", was all Kira could manage to sputter out while the boys snickered at her inability to put together a sentence. She shot them a deathly glare, but that only intensified their snickering as she rolled her eyes and turned the other way, trying to get the color flushed away from her cheeks, while Jason and Rocky grinned and nodded their heads to continue.

"So Zordon then proceeded to tell us all about his history with Rita, and why he came to earth to find a team of teenagers like ourselves that could protect it when and if Rita was ever let out of her dumpster. Well, she had been accidentally let out and we were the chosen ones. Naturally though, none of us bought it, and we left to begin our walk from the outskirts of Angel Grove back into town. I thought about what Zordon had said to us, but I just decided to go back with the rest of the gang. I'll never forget what Zack said to me when I tried to convince them that saving the world wasn't a bad gig at all."

"What'd he say to you?", questioned Ethan, his gaze fixed on Jason intently.

"You **DO** realize we were just talking to a giant floating head, right?"

The group let out a collective laugh at the infamous line that Zack uttered on that very first day of being rangers, even Tommy turned around from the balcony and grinned, rolling his eyes as he turned his back again and continued whatever it was he was talking about to whoever. After composing themselves, Rocky nodded his head and Jason continued on with his story.

"So while we were walking back, an energy blast from the moon nearly incinerated us, and the next thing we knew, Putty Patrollers were all over the place, and quite frankly, they were kicking our asses. And...", he trailed off before Conner raised his hand like he was back in school.

"Conner, this isn't school, you don't have to raise your hand to speak", said Rocky with a wry grin on his face, feeling like a teacher again.

"Sorry, but I was just wondering, what are Putty Patrollers?", he inquired, the rest of the kids nodding their heads and basically asking the same thing.

"The Putties are to the original Power Rangers as the Tyrannodrones are to you and the Dino Rangers, Conner. The Putties were Rita and Zedd's evil foot soldiers, much like the Tyrannodrones were Mesogog's henchmen. Whether they're still around though is something only you know."

"No, we haven't seen any of those since the battle that killed the Mesomonster", responded Trent, recalling that fearsome fight in which they had temporarily lost the powers of the Dino Gems. "Our gems are fully powered, but we haven't seen that much action in the past few weeks."

"More like we haven't seen any action at all, Trent", snorted Ethan, displeased with that fact he spoke of. Two whole weeks without any sort of disturbance in Reefside was beginning to eat away at the kids, but they were doing their best to keep busy.

"Why is that?", questioned an intrigued Rocky, while Jason stood by, looking like he wanted to get his story out of the way, but keeping it to himself as the kids briefly took the stage.

"The past two weeks have been unusually quiet. Talking with Dr. O, I know that you guys never went more than four days without a monster attack or some sort of evil being thrown at you", explained Kira as Jason and Rocky nodded their heads, knowing what it was like to live through Rita and Zedd's relentless onslaughts back in the day. "It's just wierd. Don't get me wrong, it's great not having to explain the cuts and bruises to my parents every day, but we just feel as if there's something out there, lurking, waiting to strike."

"If there was something waiting for us, it would have attacked and we would have disposed of it already", muttered Conner while Kira simply rolled her eyes while she looked towards Jason for some help, or for him to simply continue his story.

"Well, now that we all know what Putties are, I'll continue", Jason stated while the kids quieted down again and leaned forward once more, hanging on his every word. "So the Putties were kicking our collective asses, until I made the suggestion that we use the morphers that Zordon had given us. Without hesitation, we all got up, and one call of 'It's Morphin Time' later, the first line of Power Rangers were born. With the power flowing through our bodies, we quickly dispatched the Putties and then were met with our first monster battle in the form of Rita's right hand man, a flying monkey-like creature in gold armor, named Goldar. She made him grow. We called upon the first ever Megazord. We sent Goldar packing."

"Wow", whispered Kira.

"Amazing", stuttered Ethan.

"Unbelievable", muttered Trent.

"Sick", said Conner.

"So for a short time, Rita would throw monster after monster at us, and we'd always win. She sent one monster, a beast named King Sphinx, to specifically destroy me, and I foolishly tried to take him on my own. But I learned a valuable lesson that day. Where ever I went, I'd always have my friends there for me be by my side. I thought we were unstoppable. Until we ran into him", Jason said with a small hint of sarcasm as he pointed towards Tommy, who turned around just in time to press the phone against his ear and shoulder, goofily smiling and giving a cheesy thumbs up to the kids, who laughed, glad that their teacher was glad he was fully over being evil at one point. _"If they only knew...",_ Tommy thought to himself as he turned back around.

"So as fate would have it, I first met Tommy at a karate competition, where we tied. After the competition, I remember thinking to myself, _'Wow, he'd be a good addition to the team. Too bad there's only five coins.'_ But any thought I had about that was quickly forgotten about in the middle of Kimberly's ramblings about how cute he was. She practically fell in love with the guy at first sight. I didn't know whether to think it was good to see her take such an interest in a guy, or puke at how much she kept talking and talking about him. I didn't think twice about the guy, to be honest. But then something happened, and we were under attack by none other than the Green Ranger. For two weeks, non stop, we were getting our asses kicked, and we couldn't do anything to stop him. Tommy nearly sent Zordon to an alternate dimension, he almost caused Alpha to crash, and he nearly killed the five of us, all while under Rita's spell. Him and Goldar had me locked away in Rita's Dark Dimension and toyed with the possibility of killing me while they held my morpher hostage, and if it wasn't for Billy getting a lock on my communicator in the nick of time, Tommy would have gutted me and spread my intestines all over the place. Wrapping it up, the final battle came down to our Megazord and Tommy's Dragonzord, and after we took care of the Dragonzord, it was just me and Tommy, the end mimicking the beginning. Except this time, I managed to destroy the Sword Of Darkness, and thus, the spell was broken...and the prophecy was fulfilled."

"What prophecy?", asked Conner, astounded, amazed, and shocked at the details and full story of how their mentor had become a Power Ranger.

"The prophecy that Zordon had mentioned to us once. He mentioned that there was another power coin floating around somewhere, but we didn't buy it. Why should we have? The prophecy was that the person in possesion of the Dragon Coin would join the team. And Tommy did. I'll tell you from experience, he's better to have on the team than to fight. And so, with Fearless on the team, we were great. Nothing could stop us. Sure, having him on the team only increased Kim's murmers of Tommy's amazing-ness, whatever you want to call it, but we grew real close as friends, and that bond has lasted til now. So we went through the motions, saving Angel Grove and the world from Rita's evil, until she made the green candle and stripped Tommy of his Green Ranger powers for the first time. The bad news coming out of it was that Tommy faded away, disappeared after it happened, distraught at losing the one thing he really had in common with us all. The good news was that Rita didn't regain control of the Dragon Coin's powers, as Tommy transfered them to me, along with the Dragon Shield and the Dragon Dagger. And finally, after months of trying to grow a pair...", Jason said as he glanced over at his best friend on the balcony, knowing what he was about to say could either seriously piss him off or bring a smile to his lips, began to whisper. "It was after he lost the Green Ranger powers that Tommy finally found the courage to kiss Kimberly and then ask her out to be his date to the school dance that Saturday night. It was at the dance that he asked her if she'd be his girlfriend. She responded with that bubbly laugh of hers and another kiss. And thus, the 'legendary' relationship was in full swing. So after that, we went back to just the five of us, before Rita got it in her head to kidnap our parents, and in essence, stole our coins as well. The thing is though, is that I still had possession of the Drago Coin. We located Tommy, and with a major boost from Zordon himself, Tommy was back on the team, retrieving the stolen coins and the Dragon Dagger. Tommy was back and we were doing great again. Until..."

"Until what? You aren't gonna leave us hanging like that, are you!?", ranted Ethan as Jason was just really getting into the good stuff about his past life as a ranger. Jason smirked as he looked at the refridgerator behind Rocky, closed his eyes and muttered something. A bottle of water appeared in his hand as he twisted open the cap and took a swig of it, the kids astonished, jaws on the floor at what he just did.

"Until we met Lord Zedd. Turned out there was someone more powerful than Rita, and so Zedd kicked her off the moon and took over. His first act was creating that damn Pirantishead and freezing the Dinozords, while also gaining control of my Tyrannosaurus Dinozord and Tommy's Dragonzord. It was there that Zordon bestowed upon us new, more powerful Zords to take on Zedd...the Thunder Zords. Zack had the Black Lion, Billy the Blue Unicorn, Trini the Yellow Griffin, Kimberly the Pink Firebird, and myself the Red Dragon. Unfortunatly, due to Tommy's powers being low, the Dragonzord wasn't of much help to us, but he stuck it out as best as he could. After sending the Pirantishead away and gaining full control over the old Zords, we were ready to fend off Zedd's evil plans. But then Zedd finally succeded at what Rita had set out to do long ago..."

Jason stopped himself, grief washing over him for what he would say next, knowing that he still hadn't forgiven himself about it in the first place, even after all these years. Jason's eyes showed regret and sorrow as he looked at Rocky and nodded, walking away for a few seconds to compose himself while Rocky stepped in and finished what Jason set out to say.

"What Jason was going to say is that Zedd finally accomplished the feat of permanently draining the Green Ranger's powers, thus leaving Tommy powerless for good. Jason still hasn't forgiven himself for Tommy losing his Green Ranger powers, but time eventually will heal that wound."

"All those years ago and he still holds himself responsible for Dr. O's power loss? What happened?", asked a concerned Conner, who caught an emotionally distraught Jason out of the corner of his eye.

"What Jason left out when he mentioned the green candle was that while Tommy and the Dragonzord battled Rita's Cyclops monster, from what I've been told, Jason entered Rita's Dark Dimension and battled Goldar, in an effort to put the candle out and preserve Tommy's powers. But Tommy and the Dragonzord were near death, and Jason had no chance to leave and help him out. After they defeated Cyclops, they tried to go back after the candle, but it had burned out. To this day, Jason hasn't forgiven himself for it, and he probably never will. It's one of the few things that he doesn't like talking about", Rocky simply stated as a tinge of sadness could be caught in his eyes as Kira sat up and shook her head in disbelief.

"Dr. O's forgiven him for it though, right?", she asked, concerned for Jason.

"Numerous times, Kira. Tommy doesn't hate Jason for it. He never blamed him for it. What happened happened, and that's all that can be said about it. I remember Jason telling me one time that when Tommy came back as the White Ranger, Jason walked up to him one afternoon and kinda just collapsed into his arms. He said something along the lines of how different it'd be seeing Tommy in white, not green, and that he would forever be sorry for causing that to happen", Rocky said as Jason stepped back into the room, composed and straightened out. "You ready to finish up, Jase?"

"Yeah", he simply stated as he took a deep breath and sighed. "So yes, Zedd thought he ridded himself of Tommy forever, but as you all know, he came back as the White Ranger. All of us, especially Kimberly, were glad to have him back on the team. But shortly thereafter, the opportunity of a lifetime came calling for me, Zack and Trini, as we were the three representatives from Angel Grove chosen to go to the World Peace Conference in Switzerland. Not being able to remain rangers anymore, we had to pass on our coins to three replacements; Zack handed his coin to Adam, Trini to Aisha, and I handed my coin over to ol' Rocko over here. It was then that Tommy assumed leadership of the team", he said before he was barraged with questions from the kids.

"Why didn't you just stay?"

"How was Switzerland?!"

"Did you regret leaving?"

"You think you made the right choice giving Rocky your coin?"

The two elder rangers smiled as the kids fired off questions a mile a minute. Jason gave Rocky this look that said, "Oh boy, where do I begin?", before chuckling and answering everything.

"I couldn't...didn't stay because at the time, I felt that my duties had been fulfilled, and I had Zordon's blessing to leave. Switzerland was absolutly amazing, and it is something I'll always have fond memories of. Did I regret leaving? Not at first. But as time went on and I kept hearing about how the rangers were doing, I got the itch again. I hated being on the sidelines, so to speak. And yes, despite what many say, I know that I made the right choice in giving Rocko my coin. Rocko was a great ranger, and he always will be in spirit", he stated as he patted Rocky on the shoulder, Rocky grinning slyly. He knew he made the right decision, no matter what anyone had said. "But my life as a ranger didn't end there. When the gang gained control of the new Zeo powers, and Trey Of Triforia was injured whilst battling some Varox bounty hunters, Trey, the king of the planet Triforia and keeper of the Gold Ranger powers, passed them onto me until he was properly healed and brought back into one body. So there I was, the Gold Ranger...I had so much fun wielding those powers. But it turns out that the Gold Ranger powers weren't meant for human physiology, and I had no choice but to return the powers back to Trey, or risk death."

"No long term effects, right Jase?", asked Rocky as he playfully shoved Jason, who returned the favor with a shove of his own. "No long term effects, Rocko."

"So after that, I managed to convince Kim to come back to Angel Grove to help out with the shelter for adoptive kids. She only agreed under the condition that...well, I think you know what I'm talking about", Jason muttered as he pointed to Tommy on the balcony, the kids nodding their heads. "But as we went scuba diving, we were kidnapped by Divatox, the rangers new head villan. Her plans were to take us to the island of Muranthias, to turn the two of us into her evil children for herself and her fiance, Maligore. The good news is that the gang got new Turbo powers and came to our rescue. The bad news...is that we were actually sacrificed."

"What?", the four kids whispered collectively, not believing what Jason had just said.

"Yeah", he started to say before pushing the bad memories of that experience into the back of his head. "Me and Kim were turned evil. It was horrible, to say the least. We nearly killed them. Hell, I nearly threw Tommy into the lava and turned him evil again too. But thankfully for all of us, the wizard known as Lerigot purified us, and with the Turbo Megazord destroying Maligore, the world was at ease again, and me and Kim were back to normal. After that experience, Kim went back to Florida, and I moved back here to start a new life. As fate would have it, I ran into an old friend, we hit it off, and now, I'm currently engaged. The woman in question will be here soon, and I'm sure you'll all remember her from Tommy's documentary. But that wasn't it. I got called back one last time by Fearless Leader over there", he said, pointing again to Tommy, referring to him by his nickname. "All of the Red Rangers to that point were called together to go to the Moon to stop the remnants of the Machine Empire from bringing Serpentera, Lord Zedd's war zord, back to life. We succeeded, and finally, finally after that, I retired to my life now; running the dojo with Rocko and Tommy. And there you have it, kids. My life and times as a Power Ranger. I hope you all learned something and enjoyed it."

The kids sat in stunned silence. The original Red Ranger had just basically written a novel before their very eyes and ears. Needless to say, they had all learned something, and they were all very honored and glad to be in the presence of Tommy's best friend and the original Red Power Ranger. Conner's jaw was on the floor, and it looked like it was staying there. Ethan's eyes were the size of golf balls. Kira kept shaking her head, a small smile on her face after hearing all of this. And Trent let out a deep, emphatic sigh, his brain going into overdrive after taking all of this in. Jason smirked and motioned for Rocky to take the floor and tell the kids about his own life as a ranger. The kids remained silent as Rocky stepped forward and Jason stepped into the background, and leaned forward, just as eager to hear Rocky speak as they had been for Jason to speak. Clearing his throat, Rocky began his own life story.

"Well, since we got that out of the way, I promise you all that I won't be as long as Jase because my life as Power Ranger isn't nearly as long as his was, but it is interesting and rich with memories, if I do say so myself. So, where do I start...the beginning, duh! I orignally was born in Stone Canyon, the town right outside of Angel Grove, and me, Adam and Aisha, my two best friends since I was little, transferred to Angel Grove during the middle of sophmore year. The three of us originally met Tommy, Billy and Kim in the park when we were chasing down Mr. Anderson's baby, Jacob. That next day, the three of us represented Stone Canyon in the Team Ninja Competition, and we won. Unfortunatly for us though, Zedd targeted us and trapped the three of us and Mr. Anderson in his Dimension Of Dispair, and planned to turn us into his evil warriors to combat the Power Rangers. We were saved by them, but in turn, we found out their true identities when Billy had to have his helmet removed after nearly being suffocated by Zedd's Serpent of Darkness. Shortly thereafter, like Jason mentioned, he left and I took over the powers of the Red Ranger. At first I thought that it was no problem...but boy, was I ever wrong. I tried too hard to fill Jason's shoes and to live up to him, and I was cutting myself short. It wasn't until Tommy and Billy pulled me aside one day and gave me some key advice, advice that helped me become who I am today...", Rocky trailed off as he too began to think of a fond memory from his Red Ranger days.

* * *

_Rocky was seen sitting on a bench in the medical bay within the Command Center. Zedd's recent monster, Cannon Top, had proven to be a tough test for the entire team. Sure, they took care of him rather easily when they called upon the Thunder Megazord, but it was the battle before the big Zord battle that left Rocky feeling all sorts of pain everywhere in his body. He had once again tried to be the hero, and tried to take the monster on by himself, but he had gotten his ass kicked, to say the least. He was constantly doing this whenever Zedd sent down a monster, and to say that his fellow rangers were getting worried would be a gross understatement on their part._

_Rocky didn't understand why they grew so concerned with him. He was the Red Ranger. He was supposed to be the one that they looked up to, outside of Tommy, who was the obvious leader of the team. He was only doing what his predecesor, Jason, would have done. Jason would have risked life and limb to save Angel Grove. Jason was a great leader. Why shouldn't Rocky be looked at the same way? It just confused him whenever Tommy or Billy, or even Kimberly always insisted on going about things as a team. He sometimes found himself scolding Adam and Aisha for just falling in line and listening to the three originals. If he was being assertive, why weren't they doing the same?_

_Billy and Tommy had just entered the Command Center after making sure that the necessary repairs were made to their Thunder Zords and that they were returned to their hiding spots safely. They walked into the medical bay room and saw Rocky moping on a bench, a heating pad on his back, a bag of ice on his cheek and a towel draped across both of his shoulders. Giving each other skeptical, yet calming looks, they both nodded their heads as they began to make their way over to the Red Ranger with the hopes of maybe getting through to him about the entire situation._

"Hey there, Rocko", Tommy started as he pulled up a chair and sat down on it, with Billy doing the same thing. "Got room for two more?"

"Oh. Hey guys. What brings you here?", Rocky said rather morosely, not really wanting to deal with either of their lectures at the moment. If he was irritated, he was doing a good job of hiding it.

"We just got back from repairing the Thunder Zords and returning them to their hiding spots. They're good and ready to go for next time", said Billy as he cracked his neck and let out a soothing sigh, knowing that he needed to do that to alleviate some soreness there from the last battle.

"What're Adam and the girls up to?", asked Rocky as he turned away to look at the timer on his heating pad, silently groaning to himself, knowing he had ten more minutes before he could take it off and get out of there.

"Adam's catching up on some homework for Ms. Applebee's class, while the girls are sleeping. Cannon Top was a hell of a fight, and the girls are just wiped out, so they're asleep in the makeshift bedroom Alpha created for overnight stays", stated Tommy as he pushed aside some of his long brown hair and sighed. "Why're you out here all by yourself, dude?"

"Because...I just needed to rest up a little, that's all. Needed to clear my head as well", he muttered as he avoided making eye contact with either of them, knowing what was coming next as he prepared himself for the inevitable lecture from them about being a Power Ranger.

"You know Rocky, you really didn't need to risk your well being like that today", started Billy, but before he could say any further, Rocky cut him off and began to rant.

"Listen, I know, alright! I know! I know that I don't need to do all of that crazy shit out there, but I feel that I need to! I'm the Red Ranger, for christ's sake! What kind of ranger would I be if I didn't do whatever it took to protect Angel Grove from Zedd's sick mind? I don't know about you two, but I'm not about to let him take over the world!", exclaimed a hot Rocky, who simply didn't care for their lectures and wanted to be just like Jason, the leader, the ranger that could be counted on for anything. Billy and Tommy both shot each other glances that basically said, "Alright, here we go...", before turning their attention back to the angered Red Ranger.

"Rocko, calm down, dude. Listen, the rest of us, we know what you're trying to do", said Tommy, who like Billy, was cut off before he could continue by Rocky.

"Yeah? What am I trying to do then, Tommy?", Rocky said, his voice dripping in sarcasm.

"We know that you're trying to emulate Jason and be just like him."

_Tommy's words had struck a nerve in Rocky's soul, almost as if they had pierced it like a bullet being shot out of the barrel of a gun. Rocky didn't know how to react to it. He had just been figured out by his leader and the technical maestro of the group. He shook his head, putting on his best smile to try and refute their claims, but they saw right through his faux facade of bewilderment. He made a mental note to curse himself to high heaven after he finished up talking with Billy and Tommy as he rubbed his upper back to try and get a knot out of it from the battle._

_How could he have been figured out so easily? How could they know that he was comparing himself to the original Red Ranger and original leader of the power team? Why would they even care? He was the Red Ranger now and he was doing whatever it took to fit in and protect Angel Grove all at the same time. In the back of his mind, he knew that they were growing very worried about him, but at the same time, he didn't need their apathy and their concern. He was old enough to take care of himself, they all knew that. So why did they care so god damn much about it?_

_Rocky struggled to find the words to say to Tommy and Billy. He didn't want to freely admit that they were right, nor did he want to give them that satisfaction. All he did was shake his head and sigh before he spoke to the two eldest rangers._

"I don't know what you're talking about, Tommy", was all Rocky could offer up as a response, while Tommy rolled his eyes and gave Billy a look that said, 'It's up to you now', while he got up and walked to a nearby cabinet in the room to grab a heating pad for his knee.

"Rocky, we all see it. My concerns were confirmed when Kim whispered to me earlier, 'Why is Rocky doing all of this? He'll kill himself! That's not what Jason would have wanted!'. Rocky, we know that being Jason's replacement would normally come with some big boots to fill, but Jason wouldn't want that from you. He wouldn't want you to try and be like him. He's the only Jason Lee Scott that I know of", he told Rocky, while he sat there, eyes fixed on the floor while Tommy sat back down and placed the heating pad on his sore knee.

"Yeah? So what's your point?", he scolded Billy as he kept his gaze on the floor ahead of him, not wanting to make eye contact with either of them.

"We care about you, Rocky. We don't wanna see one of our own get seriously hurt out there, or worse, die. We're a family. We talk to each other about everything. We look out for one another. We care for one another. And we love one another. Jason, yeah, he was a great leader and a great Red Ranger. But we're not asking you to be Jason, Rocky. We're asking you to be you. There may have been one Jason Scott, but to my knowledge, there's also only one Rocky DeSantos."

"What're you trying to say, Tommy?", he asked in a low whisper, the words finally getting through to him.

"Being a Power Ranger is all about looking out for those you share your life with. Why do you think that I love Kim as much as I do?", he asked simply, knowing that Rocky wouldn't quite know how to react to that question.

"Uh...because...she's really cute?", he said absent-mindedly, just like Tommy had expected him to. How could he answer a question he didn't really know all that much about?

"He loves her because she was the one that cared for him when he was evil. She was the only one who gave him a chance. I admit, I wanted nothing to do with Tommy here after the whole evil Green Ranger saga. But Kimberly was the only one who saw Tommy for what he was and still is; a great friend, a great lover, but more importantly, a great human being who wouldn't think twice about giving you the shirt off his back if you needed it", Billy responded while Rocky looked on in amazement, Tommy nodding his head with a big smile on his lips.

"And that's why I will always be there for Kimberly. She was there for me when I needed her most. She gave me her love, her support, her compassion, and her heart when I lost the Green Ranger powers. I've been trying to pay her back ever since. But I feel like I've done my job when at the end of the day, I'm able to hold her in my arms, kiss her forehead and hear her tell me, 'I love you.' That's all I could ever ask for in my life", said Tommy as he trailed off, adjusting the heating pad on his knee as he grinned after looking at Rocky's face. He had gotten through to him. He knew that something involving him and Kimberly would make it all sink in.

"So because Kim looked out for you...you look out for her...and that's all that being a ranger is about..."

"That and being yourself", added Billy.

_It had all come full circle for Rocky. Jason had asked him to be the Red Ranger and be himself, not be Jason. He asked him to do what was right, and that was save the world and Angel Grove from Zedd's evil forces. He had asked him to carry on the power and ensure that it would stay in the hands of good. He had asked him to follow Tommy and listen to him intently. But most importantly, he had asked him to carve his own legacy as a Power Ranger. And that, in Rocky's mind, was the ultimate show of faith and trust._

"Thank you guys...I don't know what else to say other than that. Thank you. I know what I must do now."

"Don't thank us, Rocky. You came to it on your own. We'll always be here for you when you need us. All of us. Me, Billy, Adam, Aisha, Kim...we're a big family. And family sticks together and watches each other's backs", said Tommy as he patted Rocky on the shoulder, while Billy did the same, a big lesson learned as the three grew closer together as friends that day, many years ago, when they still had the power protecting them.

* * *

"If it wasn't for that advice, I probably would have ended up killing myself in battle. But yeah, moving on..."

"Wow...Dr. O was really crazy about this girl Kimberly, wasn't he?", asked Conner, who seemed to take delight in asking about such personal questions when he had no right to. A stern look from Ethan and Trent followed by a slap to the shoulder by Kira was all he needed to know that it was time to shut up.

"Yeah Conner, he really did. But that's a story for another day. So after that talk, the team was doing pretty well for itself. Then Rita and Zedd got married and made our lives a living hell as part of their honeymoon present. Luckily for us, we managed to escape their clutches and destroy all of their monsters, not to mention get Zordon back and restore Alpha to normal. I tell ya, that trip we went on to Australia was awesome, and I'd love to go back some day. But then something else came along in the form of Tommy's past. The Wizard Of Deception had created a clone of him from a lock of his hair, and Zedd somehow managed to find the Dragon Coin, recharge it to full energy, and give it to this clone of his. The Wizard sent us to colonial Angel Grove, while Tommy stayed behind and battled his past. Meanwhile, we were stuck in the past until finally, Tommy managed to come and get us so that we could save Angel Grove from the restored Dragonzord. Something about seeing Angel Grove in colonial times makes me smile. Makes me feel like I've really seen it all", Rocky said as Jason smiled and the kids offered up no questions, simply content with listening to his story as much as they did Jason's.

"So after that whole ordeal, I then found myself stuck in a fairy tale called 'Grumble The Magic Elf' with Tommy and Kim. The book was a present for Kim from Tommy, as she had always had it read to her by her father when she was a little girl. We had to help the main character, as you guessed, Grumble, reach the end of the book with a whole host of toys for orphaned kids so that the spell that was placed on him by Mondo The Magician could be reversed. We nearly didn't make it out of the book alive, thanks to a snow monster-like creature", Rocky spoke as the kids eyes widened. They thought that they had been through some wierd stuff during their time wielding the Dino Gems, but they seemed to pale in comparison to what the original rangers went through dealing with these Zedd and Rita characters.

"So after that, we got out and took care of Mondo, but more tragedy was met when a cosmic egg that had been buried underground for six thousand years was accidentally released by a group of construction workers. Zordon warned us about the dangers of the egg, and thus we were sent to make sure it wasn't opened. We thought we would take care of it easily. We were so wrong..."

"What do you mean, you were wrong?", questioned Ethan as he suddenly had a heightened sense of awareness, taken from the tone of Rocky's solemn voice when he uttered those last words.

"What happened to you guys with this egg? Was it actually opened?", asked Kira, who, like Ethan, was suddenly interested in a tragic sense.

"Did he send Zordon away?", muttered Trent, who was so overwhelmed with all that was being said.

"Unfortunatly, before we could get there, yeah. Zedd and Rita opened the egg to reveal Ivan Ooze, a tyrant that ran roughshod over all the galaxies before Zordon and warriors like ourselves locked him into the hyperlock chamber. And yeah...I guess you could say that he sent Zordon away...", Rocky said as he tried not to remember the horrifying turn of events the ranger team had experienced that day.

"Then what'd he do?", Conner asked in a serious tone.

"We showed up right as he had been let out of the egg, and he talked about how he was ready to rule again. I still get chills when I remember him telling us, 'Welcome to my nightmare.' He sent his Ooze Men on us, and got away while we battled them. Then, according to what Alpha told us, he entered the Command Center, nearly deactivated Alpha, and then proceeded to blow the place to smithereens, leaving Zordon hanging on for dear life by a thread in the process."

"No way...seriously?", was all the group of kids could offer up as a response, amazed to be hearing about Zordon like that, and the Command Center being torn apart by just one being like that. "So what happened next?", they all said at once.

"After that, Alpha told us of the Great Power, and that we had to travel to the distant planet of Phaedos to find it. There, Ooze sent the Tenga Warriors after us..."

"Tenga Warriors?", asked a completely confused Conner.

"Putties. Except they were birds. Big, scary birds. So while we tried to fight them off and while Tommy heroically tried to figure out how to save Kim from near destruction, a loud crow-like noise was heard. Out of nowhere, the master warrior of the planet appeared, her name being Dulcea. After she got rid of the Tenga's and we explained our purpose being there, she took us to the ancient ruins of the Ninjetti Temple. After explaining the powers and the history of the Ninjetti, she told us that inside of us, we all had an animal spirit that was waiting to be let out. And so, Dulcea bestowed upon us our animal spirits and our ninja powers. I'm the ape, mighty and strong. Aisha is the bear, cunning and fierce. Billy is the wolf, silent and sure. Adam is the frog, courageous and spirited. Kim is the crane, agile and graceful. And Tommy is the falcon, just and able", he said before Ethan blurted out something that caused the entire room, even Tommy from the outside, to look at him with wide eyes.

"Dr. O and his girl's spirits could both fly? How cute is that!"

Silence was all that was heard in the room. Tommy let out a deep, sad sigh as he finished talking to whoever it was he was talking to on the phone, and then walked by them all to his room without saying a word to anyone, with Jason following him on his heels. Rocky shook his head emphatically as Ethan wilted as he felt the glare of Conner, Kira and Trent on him.

"Moving on. After gaining the powers, we had to gain the Great Power in order to go back to Angel Grove and save it from Ooze and his Ectomorphicon Titans. After dealing with a dinosaur skeleton and four disgusting rock creatures, the monolith opened to reveal the Great Power, and just like that, we were back and better than ever. We went back to Angel Grove and took it to Ooze, but we had to retreat to outer space with the Ninja Mega Falconzord and use Ryan's Comet to destroy Ooze. We were rolling along with the new Ninja Powers until we met one Katherine Hilliard."

"Kimberly's replacement?", asked Kira innocuosly, knowing that she might be opening Pandora's Box by asking a question like that.

"Yeah, Kim's eventual replacement. But not before Rita brain-washed her into stealing Kim's coin, draining her life force, stealing the Falconzord, rendering the Ninja Zords useless, nearly killing Kim, nearly making us pilot the new Shogunzords for evil purposes, and a whole host of other bad things. Good thing is that Billy found a way to use the Ninja coins to tap into the Shogunzords power source and use them for our own good doing, and Tommy managed to rescue Kim before she met her maker. He would always risk his neck for her. I never fully figured out why until he gave her his blessing to go to Florida to train with Coach Schmidt for the Pan Globals. Then I knew. He loved her madly...but anyways, after Kim left and Kat took over, we were fucked hardcore by Master Vile, Rita and Rito's father. He produced the Orb Of Doom, and with that, we were reverted to our childhoods again, and we had to call upon the help of the Alien Rangers of Aquitar to protect Angel Grove while we tried to figure out how to get back to normal."

"What about this Zeo Crystal that Dr. O told us about?", questioned Trent. "What was that all for?"

"The Zeo Crystal was underneath Zedd and Rita's palace on the moon. Only a human of pure good could retrive it, or else suffer immidiate death. Tommy risked his life to get it, and to make sure that Vile, Rita or Zedd never got their hands on it, we split it up into five sub-crystals and sent them to different parts of time before we were turned into kids again. Billy managed to get back to normal using the power of the Ninja Coins and a device he made, but before the rest of us could, Rita and Zedd destroyed the Ninja Coins for good. So we had to go into our own cultural histories to find the sub-crystals to get us grown up again. I travelled to...I think it was Brazil, I don't really recall to be honest. I met a younger version of my grandfather, Pablo, and scaled down an active volcano to grab my sub-crystal. After that, everyone put their crystal's together and we were good again. Except Aisha decided to stay in Africa and handed hers over to Tanya, Adam's fiance. But the good times were short lived."

"Why is that?", asked Ethan, while the others looked at Rocky with deep glares, jaws lowered slightly and lips all bit. This was the big one.

"Rito and Goldar planted a bomb underneath the Command Center. We got out in time, but they stole the Zeo Crystal and presumably blew up Alpha and Zordon. It was so saddening seeing it blow up and not being able to do anything about it."

Stunned silence. Did you expect anything else?

"But it wasn't the end we had thought it was. We found the Zeo Crystal amongst the rubble. We then fell through the ground, and after much searching, we found the new Power Chamber, with Zordon and Alpha alive and kicking. It was then that we had the Zeo powers bestowed upon us. Kat was Zeo Ranger One, pink. Tanya was Zeo Ranger Two, yellow. I was Zeo Ranger Three, blue. Adam was Zeo Ranger Four, green. And Tommy was Zeo Ranger Five, red. We were the Zeo Rangers and the power was great. Billy, sadly though, had to take up being the main technological wizard of the Power Chamber. It sucked not seeing him out there. But I digress. Soon afterwards, Jason came on as the Gold Ranger, as you already know. But little old me grew jealous of Jase, I'll admit. I didn't like seeing everyone so happy to have him there when I had originally replaced him. I nearly died fighting King Mondo by myself to prove that I was worthy. But I realized that I was just being an idiot and grew close as a friend with Jase. Funny, I know, I went from trying to be like him, to hating him, to being a good friend of his. Life works like that. So after he came abroad and, through Zedd and Rita's own doings, the Machine Empire falling, in came Divatox, the queen space pirate. Lerigot escaped her clutches and came to Earth looking for our help. Unfortunatly for me, though, I didn't recieve the new Turbo powers. I injured my back beyond all recognition, and I couldn't go to Muranthias. So I passed my responsibility onto Justin Stewart, a-then twelve year old boy who figured out our identity by mistake. He became the Blue Turbo Ranger and that was it for me. I opened up this dojo all by my own and told Tommy and Jase that if they ever wanted in on it, all they had to do was ask. Jason came a few months after Muranthias. But Tommy...he didn't join up until after college. And even then he was rarely here, considering he was in Reefside, teaching and being your Black Dino Ranger..."

"Why didn't you take part in Operation Forever Red?", said Trent.

"My Ninja Coin is destroyed, man. I don't even know where it is. All I can say about that is I wish I was there. They could of used a little bit of the red ape. But I loved being a ranger. It provided me some of the most fun times of my life, and the life lessons and values I picked up from my time with the power will stick with me forever. I miss it, but it was great to have been able to do it. Besides, everything's safe with you guys anyways."

The kids blushed at the compliment from the only Red Ninja Ranger, the ultimate show of faith from him. But as their excited chattering and murmers continued on, Kira was the only one to really stop and think for a second about something that didn't seem right. Sure, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience listening to the original Red Rangers talk about their life and times wearing the suits, but something was just...off. Then it hit her like a freight train.

_"Who was Dr. O talking to on the phone, and why isn't he here now?"_

* * *

In Tommy's bedroom, we saw Jason sitting down in a swivel chair, staring at Tommy, who sat on the edge of his bed, hands in his face, knees trembling and his hair strewn everywhere. Jason took a deep breath before daring to ask the obvious question that he always asked when he saw Tommy like this. Most times Tommy would shrug it off or give him a sarcastic answer. Now he didn't know what he'd get.

"Are you alright, Tommy?"

"Do I look alright?"

Whew. No violence. Just a sob-filled answer.

"No, I guess not. Who were you talking to on the phone out there for so long?"

"Someone."

"This someone have a first or last name?"

"It's not important. It was just someone who I had a very passionate talk with."

"Kimberly?"

"Hell fucking no!"

"Then who? Help me out here, bro. Who was it?"

"Someone who told me stuff I didn't wanna hear."

"What'd this person tell you?"

"It started off simple enough..."

* * *

_June 22nd, 2008_

_Angel Grove High Auditorium_

_Angel Grove, California_

"Wow, I never thought I'd see so many old faces here in one place! There's Bobby Matthews, the old football quarterback...ooh, and there's Martha Smithson! Gee, this is pretty cool!", Adam Park said as he sipped on his punch, surveying the crowd of old faces.

"Easy there, froggy. Don't wanna drink too much of that in one sitting, now do you?", cooed Tanya as she smirked at her fiance, who rolled his eyes and simply shrugged his shoulders, taking another sip from his cup as he pulled her in close to his body.

"Don't call me froggy in front of everyone! They might catch on!", he whispered into her ear as she pushed off him and chuckled at the fact that years later, he was still trying to uphold the secret that Zordon had told him to keep.

"Lighten up, baby. It's been years since you donned the suit. You don't need to act all uptight about it anymore!", she said, unbeknownst to his latest escapade last year with the Overdrive Rangers.

"Uh...heh, yeah. Years. Right", he stammered out while Tanya gave him a questionable look before going back to looking for the rest of the old ranger team. Finally, she spotted a familiar face followed by two unknown faces behind him. She ran up to the man and gave him a big hug, while he laughed and returned the favor. "Oh Jason, I knew you were the one who sent us all of those messages!", she exclaimed as his eyes grew somewhat wide, breaking off the hug and biting his lip.

"Not so loud, Tanya! Sheesh!", was all Jason said as Tanya rolled her eyes again. "You sound just like Adam! Loosen up! Let your hair down! It's been years, guys! And I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch your names. I'm Tanya Sloan, Yellow Zeo Ranger and first Yellow Turbo Ranger. And you are?", she asked, extending her hand to the African American man dressed in the black button down shirt to go with his black pants and brown shoes.

"Zack Taylor, Miss Sloan. Dancing master extroardinare, hip-hop kedo creator and first Black Power Ranger. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"And you?", Tanya asked as she shook Zack's hand for a bit and extended her hand towards the cute Asian woman dressed up in a gorgeous golden yellow gown that ran past her thighs, her long black hair resting on her shoulder as she shook Tanya's hand happily.

"Trini Kwan. First Yellow Power Ranger. So nice to meet you, Tanya. Jason here has told us a lot of nice things about you."

"Hah, I sure hope so!", she said as the three of them laughed, while Jason retreated to find Adam standing back by the food table, sipping his punch and admiring Tanya from a far. "You lost or are you just enjoying the view, Adam?", Jason asked as he tapped Adam on the shoulder to get his attention.

"Jason! Nice to see ya again, bud! And hah, no, I'm just enjoying the view. Tanya's so gorgeous, isn't she?", he asked, looking for the same assurance or answer from Jason. "She sure is, man. Your a lucky one to have her in your life."

"Speaking of being in someone's life, where's Kat? I thought she'd be all over you by now, the way your dressed", Adam joked while Jason gave him a sarcastic smile before giving way to a real one.

"She's been in London visiting friends and on some business ventures lately. She apparently got back in town last night, according to her message. She said she'd be here within the hour."

"Speak of the kitty kat, and she shall appear...", Adam said as Jason turned his head to the left and saw what no one but himself saw; pure perfection. There she was, Katherine Hilliard, the tall, stunning, blonde haired Australian gal that had taken Jason's heart and locked it away for good. Dressed in a fuchsia gown that cut off right below the calves, to show off her long legs, her long blonde hair swayed back and forth as she made her way over to her former partner and current fiance, planting a big, warm, loving kiss on Jason's lips before finally realizing that people outside of Adam were probably staring at them, breaking it.

"Hey there, pretty eyes", Jason breathed as he stared longingly into Kat's eyes. "Where you been all my life?"

"Seeing friends and admiring the London Bridge, big guy", she purred in her thick Australian accent, making it sound all the more sexier to Jason. "How've you and the guys been holding up since I was gone?"

"Oh, you know me. Wishing you were around all the time and teaching. Rocky's doing fine himself. Tommy...he's a completely different story. But he's okay, I think. I know what you want to say, and no, we can talk about his problems later. I set this up for everyone, and we're all going to enjoy it."

"Whatever you say, Jase", Kat said curtly as she broke away from Jason to go see Tanya. "Not my fault you don't care that much about his love life as you do your own."

Just then, all in succession, Rocky, Aisha, Billy and Tommy entered the auditorium and made their way over to the circle of ex-rangers, all being greeted with warm welcome's and the comraderie that they all once shared when they had the power.

"Billy! How's Cestria and Titus doing? Aquitar doing alright?", questioned Tommy as he scanned the area for you-know-who and, not to his surprise, didn't find her. "Damn it...I knew she wouldn't show", Tommy thought to himself as he faced Billy again.

"Cestria and Titus are doing absolutly great, thanks for asking. And Aquitar's fallen into the same lull as Earth has. Minor attacks here and there, but nothing major. Makes me wonder if it's all stopped for good."

"You never know. Expect the unexpected", Tommy said cryptically as he weakly smiled at Billy and continued his search for the pink crane.

"You don't know how good it is to see you again after so long!", exclaimed Aisha as she clung onto Rocky and wrapped him up in a big, tight hug, not wanting to let him go.

"I'm glad you're here, Isha. I thought that with all the work in Africa and the different time zones and all, that you wouldn't be able to make it", Rocky said softly as he ran his thumb across Aisha's cheek, holding her hand with his free hand. "God it feels so good to see her again...", Rocky thought to himself as he put his chin on her head, playing with her braids in the back.

"I managed to find someone to cover for me while I'm up here. I wouldn't miss this for the world!", she near-screamed as she grabbed Rocky in another hug and rubbed her hands on his back.

Meanwhile, Tommy was beginning to give up all hope, and he had only arrived five, nearly ten minutes ago. He was severly pinning his hopes on Jason's letter getting to Kimberly and prayed to God every day and night that she would find it within her heart to show up here. But after surveying the crowd and every inch, nook and cranny of the auditorium, he came to the conclusion that she indeed was not showing up tonight.

"God damn it Tommy, you did it to yourself again", he said to himself. "You thought that she'd show up, and you were wrong. There's a reason you haven't seen her in eleven years since the Muranthias incident, dummy! She doesn't want anything to do with you or them anymore! It's like that part of her life was blocked out and forgotten about! Damn it, damn it, damn it! Why can't she see that we all still care about her!?", he thought as he sat down in a chair near the dance floor, watching all the friends and couples dance at their high school reunion. He had seen plenty of petite brunettes, but not the one petite brunette that he was desperately looking for. The white falcon looked lost.

"I don't even know why I bothered showing up and getting all dressed nicely. There's no point. She's not even here. So much for getting my chance to talk to her and tell her how much I--"

Tommy cut his thought process off as he watched the front doors to the auditorium swing open fiercly. A few people stopped and watched the doors open like that, but most of them continued to talk and dance, not paying attention. The ex-rangers, like Tommy, stopped and watched as a single, lone woman walked into the auditorium. All of their eyes opened real wide and all of their jaws collectively hit the floor at the sight of this woman. Tommy's heart felt like it had just gotten caught in his throat. He couldn't speak or do anything. He was frozen to his chair as he watched this woman saunter in with a bright smile on her face. She was decked out in a pretty pink dress with white straps to go along with the pink heels she was wearing. Her long, chestnut hair rested beautifully on her slender shoulders, accenting her brown doe eyes. But what really caught Tommy's attention was what was around this woman's neck. It was a silver chain necklace with a rose-colored quartz shaped into...a crane on it. The diamond eyes on the quartz sparkled in the many lights, just as sparkling as her perfect smile. Tommy had recognized that necklace before. Only then did he know that he was staring her down as she walked by him, not noticing him or oblivious to his gawking, towards the old gang of ex-rangers, who were beyond shocked, to say the least. They looked like they had just seen an angel appear before them.

"Oh my god, everyone really is here! I'm sooo glad you're all here! You weren't kidding about this, Jason! This is amazing!"

Tommy closed his eyes and cringed at the sound of her voice. He bit his quivering lip and breathed heavily as he turned his back to the gang and watched his long chocolate hair fall in front, covering his face.

Kimberly Ann Hart, the pink crane...had finally arrived.

**AN: Another cliff hanger, I know, I'm bad. This chapter was a joy to write, as it made me realize how much I loved Power Rangers as a kid and how much history I remembered. Please read and review, it's all greatly appreciated! Thank you all, and I hope I haven't bored you to death just yet!**


	5. Welcome Back, Old Friends

The group of ex-rangers stood there with their collective mouths hung open wide, eyes enlarged to the size of mini-basketballs at what they were seeing. Billy, for example, was so shocked, he literally had to adjust his contact lenses to make sure his vision wasn't fuzzy. Everyone's expression was of astonishment and dismay. Nobody could believe that she was speaking to any of them, never mind the fact that she had proven them all wrong and showed up for the occasion. But while everyone surrounding Jason looked dismayed and jarred, he looked like he couldn't be happier, despite the uneasy news that had been delivered to him by Tommy only hours earlier.

What had started off as a simple conversation between the two of them days ago when he had the Dino Rangers over their apartment to learn the history of the two original Red Rangers, turned into nothing, as Tommy abruptly cut it off and went to go show the kids around Angel Grove, around the place he holds dearly to his heart. Jason tried to get the news out of him before he took the kids out, but it was to no avail, as Tommy and the kids were out of the apartment faster than he could say "Back to action". Over the days leading up to the reunion and anniversary, Jason had tried to get the news out of him, but Tommy kept avoiding him at every turn, until finally, Rocky pressed Tommy about it, and then Jason himself goaded Tommy into telling the two of them what it was he had been told while the kids were being told of Jason and Rocky's origins earlier that day, while they were preparing themselves for the occasion tonight.

--

"Come on man, why can't you just say what you need to say and get the burden off of your chest", Rocky reasoned with the stubborn former White Ranger, who said nothing and merely shook his head as Jason entered the room, happening to overhear Rocky's words to Tommy. He stopped and rolled his eyes as he opened up the refridgerator and grabbed a bottle of water. "Seriously dude, you've been ducking Jason on this issue for days now, and it's starting to irritate the two of us. Why can't you just say what it is? Is it about your family? Is it about something in regards to tonight? Is it about Kimberly?", Rocky asked as Jason stopped mid-motion whilst drinking his water, and Tommy's head shot up, his eyes glowing an eerie white, the air suddenly becoming thin in the room.

"Why do you care so damn much all of a sudden, Rocko?", sneered Tommy as Rocky went to walk in Tommy's direction, but one glare from Jason was all it took for Rocky to stay put. "I was going to tell Jason, but you know what? I'll tell him when I'm damn good and ready to tell him!"

Jason closed his eyes and began to use his telekinetic powers to look for someone, something even. He put his hands to his temples and hummed some indistinguishable theme as Rocky and Tommy looked on, realizing it was best to stay quiet at the moment. But before long, a smile crept across Jason's face as he took his hands off his temples and smiled, opening his eyes as Rocky drummed his fingers across the black marble countertop, anxiously wanting to know what the hell was going on, while Tommy sensed something was up. The smile on Jason's face was too confident-looking for Tommy's liking.

"Tommy, either you tell me what the 'horrible' news is, or you won't know if a certain somebody is coming to the festivities tonight", Jason cooly said as Tommy perked up, his lips pursed as he moved his ponytailed hair onto his shoulders. Rocky looked at Jason, who gave him a subtle smile, which went completely unnoticed by Tommy as a grin appeared on Rocky's face.

"What're you talking about, certain someone?", questioned Tommy as Jason took a deep breath and exhaled, knowing that this next move of his would make or break the deal. "From what you've told me, everyone's gonna be there."

"Not everyone, Fearless."

"Who the hell are you talking about then, Jase?"

"Tell me the news and...I'll tell you whether Kimberly is coming or not."

Tommy's jaw clenched and looked like granite as Jason did a victory dance on the inside. He had Tommy by the balls now. Rocky could tell that Jason scored one point on the board for himself, just by the way Tommy shut up and Jason stood there, confident as ever. Tommy looked down at the hardwood floor, and then down at his feet, not wanting to make eye contact with either man. He had been defeated and suckered into this big time. And he knew it.

"Jason...you can't pull that card. You know how..."

"Either tell me the news, or you won't find out if she's coming."

Tommy stood there, his eyes ready to burst into flames, his jaw clenched shut as Jason smirked, knowing that he had Tommy right where he wanted him. The more he mentioned Kim, the more Tommy would lose his cool and eventually blurt out the news to them. Jason had pulled his trump card and it was working like a charm.

"Fine then. I won't tell you. I don't care if she comes or not. You'll know when you need to know."

"You don't care if she comes, Tommy? Bro, look at you. You spent all day at the beach the other day, where you and her went to hide from everything when we were in high school. You compare Kira to her all the damn time. You fucking acted like a baby when Ethan noted the fact that your Ninjetti spirit and Kim's Ninjetti spirit were birds who flew together. And now you're shutting up at the mere mention of her name. Something's gotta give man, and it's you."

"Jason's right, Tommy. What's so important about this news? Why can't you just say something?", Rocky spoke up, breaking his silence. "We were former rangers as well. We share the brotherhood of being bonded together by the power, man. We don't keep news from each other. Or did you seemingly forget all of that?", he vented as Tommy made eye contact with both men, not believing that it's come down to this. He shook his head and let out a deep sigh. He had to tell them now.

"Alright, alright", he started as he shoved his hands in his pocket and leaned up against the countertop, both men staring at him, almost as if they were hanging on his every word at this point. "When me and the kids got up here to the central living room, my phone started to vibrate, so I told them to go ahead and sit down, make themselves at home and listen to you two and your histories as Power Rangers. So when I stepped away to see who was calling me, I was a little surprised to see my contact in NASA, Terry, calling me."

"Terry Ortega? The dude who over-sees all of the space shuttles safe take off's into space?", questioned a certaintly intrigued Rocky while Jason stood there, not saying anything.

"Yeah, that Terry. So Terry calls me up and I figure that it's just to see how I'm doing, something casual like that. And that's how it started out at first, we had the usual 'How're you doing, good to talk to you' banter, and then he said, 'Listen man, I'm calling you because I've got something that you might want to hear.' So after beating around the bush for a few seconds, he went straight into it and told me that their's been some strange activity on the moon over the past week and a half or so", Tommy said as Jason and Rocky stood straight up and leaned forward, automatically assuming the worst whenever the moon was brought into play.

"What did he say?"

"What's going on up there?"

"Anything we should be concerned about?"

"Do we need to call the Dino Rangers?"

"Guys, guys, relax", Tommy started as he put his hands up defensively, as if he was preparing to hold back the former Red Rangers from jumping back into action and risking their lives again. "He didn't really give me any specifics, but he said that there was unusual movement going on around there, and when they'd get a lock on it, it'd just suddenly dissappear. He said that we shouldn't be concerned about it, but I'm not so sold on that. And no, I'm sure we won't need to call the kids into action. Let them enjoy their teenagerdom and their lives. They've dealt with enough of that crap for a lifetime."

"But Tommy, they're the only known rangers that still have active power, as far as we know. They might have to step back into active duty", Rocky reasoned as Tommy shook his head no, while Jason broke his own silence.

"What about Andros and the Space Rangers? Don't they still have active powers? Wes? Eric? The Time Force Rangers? Lightspeed? Lost Galaxy? Hell, do the Turbo powers still exist? Zeo? Anything?", Jason asked frantically while Tommy stood his ground and shook his head disapprovingly. Tommy was not about to throw his beloved students into the line of fire again.

"Jason, listen to yourself. You're getting worked up about a suspicion. We don't even know if anything is going on up on the damn moon, man. It might just be a friggin rock thats rolling around and ends up getting lost in a hole. It could just be nothing. We need to think with level heads here, fellas", Tommy reasoned while Jason threw his hands up in the air in mild disgust, while Rocky stayed quiet, arms folded across his chest while he fixed his gaze on a part of the countertop that was black.

"Bro, there's obviously something going on up there if your getting a call about it from NASA. Something needs to be done about this", Jason exclaimed while Rocky stepped forward a bit and came up with his own solution.

"We could try to re-energize our old powers."

"Rocky, we can't do anything with our Zeo Crystal shards. They just stopped. You know this as well as I do", Tommy said, almost feeling bad for letting Rocky down like that. "You and Jason never recieved the Turbo powers, and I passed my Turbo powers on to T.J. And as far as I know, the Ninja Coins have been lost forever along with the Dino Coins. And the Dragon Coin is in colonial Angel Grove. We have...why the hell am I talking like this?! There is **NOTHING** going on up on the moon! I got the call as a formality! Nothing is afoul. Why're you two so worried!?"

"Because of this", they said in unison as Jason pushed forward a copy of yesterday's Angel Grove Press, the local newspaper. The front page read in big, horrifying letters, the following; _"SCIENTIST GONE MISSING"_. The opening sentences talked of how world renouned scientist Ed Tillman had gone missing a few days prior, and how his house had been ransacked and pillaged, to say the least. The lab he built was completely destroyed, and there was orange liquid everywhere. Tommy shook his head, his brow furrowed in confusement as he put the paper down and looked at his two friends, scratching his head.

"What's this got to do with anything? A missing scientist? So maybe he got kidnapped because someone wanted the formula to cure cancer or something", Tommy said as Jason rolled his eyes and Rocky smacked his forehead with his palm. Tommy was being his usual forgetful self.

"Ed Tillman. That name doesn't ring any bells?", exclaimed a near angered Jason as Tommy thought to himself about where he had heard that name before.

"Ed Tillman...why does that name suddenly sound so familiar...", Tommy trailed off while Rocky grabbed a voice recorder that they kept from their teenagerdom and pressed the button. The room then filled up with a sickening cackle, penetrating the air like a dagger through skin, while Jason closed his eyes and Tommy felt a severe shiver up his spine at the sound of the diabolical laugh coming from the recorder. His eyes then lit up and then...

"Zedd."

All Jason and Rocky did was nod their heads. Ed Tillman was the former Lord Zedd. Nothing else needed to be said.

"There's no way, guys. Zedd was destroyed years ago, apparently. There's just no way. We would have felt something, we would have known. **We would have known."**

"Are you sure about that, bro? For all we know, that could be _HIM_ on the moon."

"There's no way. Remember what Zordon told us? If anything like that were to ever happen again, we would have known", Tommy said through gritted teeth, trying to shake the uncomfortable feeling of hearing that disgusting laughter again after so many years. "I know what you two are thinking. The answer is no. I'm not doing that to my students again. They've fought enough. I'm not going to force them through that once more. I promised them that I never would, and I won't break that promise. You two can make all the arguments you want, there's nothing going on up on the moon, and I'm not asking the kids to do anything like that. My decision is final."

Rocky and Jason shot each other questionable looks and started whispering stuff into each other's ear, both of them trying to think of a way to convince Tommy to change his mind. But after quickly realizing that Tommy was incredibly protective of his Dino Rangers, they sighed and shrugged their shoulders. Getting Tommy to change his mind on something was like trying to tame a rabid wolverine. No chance.

"Alright, alright, your right. We shouldn't ask the kids to do something that will involve them using their powers. There probably is nothing going on up there. We're sorry for even suggesting such a thing. But Christ man, if there was ever one thing you picked up from your time spent with Kim, it was her stubborness", noted Jason while Rocky chuckled, excusing himself to go grab a bottle of water while Tommy smiled briefly.

"Dude, don't worry about it, it's fine, I just really care for the..._wait, what did you just say?",_ Tommy exclaimed while Jason burst out into laughter, Rocky following suit and howling hysterically while Tommy realized what Jason had just said. As irritated as Tommy was at the moment, he couldn't deny that trait. He really was as stubborn as Kimberly when he felt like it. But the mention of her dawned on Tommy as he unclenched his jaw and grinned, knowing what Jason had promised to tell him in exchange for dropping the news about the moon. "Alright guys, have your laughs, but Jason, it's about time you fessed up. So hit me with the news, bro."

"What news?", he asked, acting like an idiot, when he knew damn well what Tommy wanted to know.

"Is Kimberly coming to the festivities or not?"

"Do you want the truth or do you want me to sugarcoat it?"

"Dude, don't toy with my emotions. Just tell me."

Jason looked at Rocky and shrugged his shoulders, sighing deeply as he prepared himself to drop the "bomb".

"She's not coming, Tommy. I used my telekinesis. She's lounging on her couch down in Florida. She apparently tore up the letter and vowed not to show up. I'm so sorry, man."

Tommy looked Jason straight in the eye as his lip began to quiver ever so slightly. Rocky looked mortified to hear such a blunt answer, the look on his face telling it all. Jason gave Tommy an apologetic look, but Tommy bit his lip, balled his fist up, and unloaded on the wall, a loud thud echoing in the kitchen. He then turned around and walked out of the kitchen, towards his room. After he was out of ear shot, Jason breathed a sigh of relief while Rocky looked on in utter chagrin. Why would Jason be relieved to tell Tommy such news?

"Dude, is it true? She's really not coming? And are we going to have to pay to fix that hole in the wall?", questioned a somewhat disturbed red ape while Jason smiled one of the biggest smiles he had ever smiled.

"She's coming."

"Then why on earth would you do that to the man!? You realize that he's going to want to rip your head off when he finds out that she's coming."

"Element of surprise, Rocko. She's actually at her hotel right now, looking through some dresses she bought for the occasion. You really think I'd tell Tommy that she was coming?"

"Uh, yeah, I would, just to avoid getting my ass handed to me on a silver platter."

"He won't want to kill me. He'll want to thank me for sending her the message. I just like messing with him. I like letting him down like that. It only makes me happier to see his spirits lift later on."

"You're a nut case, Jase."

"Hey, I took the mantle of first Red Power Ranger. Doesn't get any nuttier than that."

The two men then laughed uproariously, slapping each other on the back as they both had a feeling that the festivities tonight would be remembered for ages onward.

--

"Little sis! So glad to see that you made it all the way back home in one piece!", Jason offered up as a greeting while he wrapped his big arms around Kimberly's petite frame, herself putting her own arms around Jason's neck, leaning up towards his ear as she began to whisper.

"Why's everyone staring at us like we're freak shows?", she questioned while she tightened her grip around his large neck.

"Because nobody expected you to be here. They all thought you had forgotten about your time with the power, so they assumed you declined. The looks on their face are of shock and hidden happiness, Kim. Don't take it personally", Jason whispered back as he released his grip on her waist and she stood upright again. "My my, you sure look as gorgeous as ever."

"Beautiful, if I do say so myself", Kimberly said, before wincing at the pet name that she had been called so many times before in the past. She shook her head and then looked over Jason's broad shoulder at the host of ex-rangers behind him. They were standing there, like lifeless zombies from outer space. None of them had said a word since she entered. As she scanned the group, she was relieved to see that one person was not amongst them. _"Whew, thank goodness he's not here tonight...maybe it won't be so bad afterall"_, she thought to herself as Aisha was the first to step forward.

"Is it really you, Kimmie? Or am I goin' delusional again?"

"It's me, Ish. You're seeing clearly."

"Oh my **GOD**! Kimmie, I'm so glad your here! Oh man, I didn't think you were showing!", the former Yellow Ranger said as she threw her arms around Kim's neck and hugged her tightly, nearly choking her while Kimberly's smile couldn't be wiped away. She finally felt at home again.

"It's great to see you again too, Ish! I thought you were still down in Africa!? You were making some great progress the last time I talked to you!"

"Yeah well, you know. When your big brother over there managed to get a hold of me, I knew that I couldn't miss this for the world, even if you were or weren't coming. Being around everyone again just feels so great, you know? How long are you in town for?", questioned Aisha as the rest of the group behind them still looked stunned, as if they were in the presence of a ghost, while Jason had silently slipped away and walked over towards Tommy to see how he was doing.

"I dunno, Ish. I might be staying permenantly. I just need to clear my head and figure out what's best for myself", she said with sigh. _"And what's best for Neveah",_ Kimberly thought to herself. She didn't know if she could bear to tell anyone the news. Jason and Trini knew because, well, Jason was her big brother and Trini was her best friend. Rocky found out by accident from Jason, and he was sworn to secrecy. She figured she could let everyone else know in time; Letting Tommy know that he had a fourteen year old daughter that he fathered would be the excruciatingly hard part. But as of now, she was glad she hadn't run into him. She was even thankful. _"God must have taken pity on me today...", _she thought as she turned back to see Aisha's warm smile again.

"Well girl, if you do decide to stay, you and I need to go on a major shopping spree and catch up on things. It's been waaay too long, Kimmie."

"Yeah yeah, tell me about it. Wow, this is all...just wow. I can't believe everyone's here. Jason wasn't kidding. This is amazing. It feels so good to be around everyone...even though everyone's still staring at me like I've got a second head sprouting out of my shoulder", Kimberly said, feigning sarcasm as the rest of the group snapped out of their funks and moved towards the first earth bound Pink Ranger as if she had never left the group in the first place. Billy and Zack were the first to extend their hands, the glee abundantly clear on their faces as they greeted their original teammate with open arms.

"Kimberly Ann Hart, what a pleasant surprise to see your pretty face amongst the rest of the crowd tonight!", exclaimed Zack as he pulled her into him and wrapped her in a fierce bear hug, while Kim giggled and patted the original Black Ranger's back. "How've you been, gal? You look like you haven't aged a day over twenty two!"

"I could say the same about you, Zack-Man", she managed while Zack's grip tightened around her. "I see you kept the braids, huh? They fit you well, actually. I don't know what I was thinking when I was said they weren't you", she said as Zack released his grip and put his hand on her bare shoulder. "Kim, that was what, ten, eleven, thirteen years ago? It's cool, girl. High school was high school. We're grown up...", he started to say before Billy interjected himself into the conversation. "Not really Zack, but you know, I guess your right in the literal sense."

"Billy! Oh my god, the last I heard about you, you were living on Aquitar! How is life up there? Are you adjusting well to being back on Earth, you know, with the gills and all?", she questioned while she hugged Billy and saw the rest of the group readying themselves to come over and talk to her. Her eyes lit up like stars in the night when she saw Trini, a wide smile plastered on her face.

"The gills, eh, they're slowly receding. I'm just having a hard time re-adjusting to breathing in air again, that's all. Other than that, everything on Aquitar is great. Me and Cestria are as happy as ever, and our little boy Titus is a bundle of joy. I can't wait to see what he'll end up like when he grows", Billy said, noticing that Kim was looking down at the floor, avoiding any sort of eye contact. "Kimberly, are you alright?", he asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Huh, what? Oh, yeah. I'm fine, just thought I felt something on my foot", Kim said stupidly, hoping that Billy wouldn't catch on to anything. Her thoughts drifted back to Neveah. _"She's all alone right now, sitting in our hotel room, probably bored out of her frickin' mind right now. And she still doesn't know that her father is perhaps the one man that I never should have let go. Fuck me. Why'd I have to be so stupid?", _she asked herself as the thoughts swam around her mind and she made eye contact with Billy again.

"You sure you're alright, Kim? Don't need to get anything off of your chest?", asked the former blue wolf Ninjetti, a sincere grin on his lips as he stared at his old teammate.

"No. I'm...I'll be fine. Just trying to remember if I left anything back in Florida."

Billy then nodded his head in agreement and hugged the former pink crane Ninjetti once more and hugged her, while Adam, Kat, Trini, Rocky, Tanya, began to make their way over towards her and get to see how she was doing.

Meanwhile, in the corner, obscured from the rest of the festivities, were Jason and a distraught Tommy, who looked like he was going to bite his fingers off, he was so nervous. Jason couldn't help but chuckle softly to himself while he watched the "Fearless Leader" be reduced to his high school ways in the span of twenty minutes. From their position, they had a clear view of the group, and in Tommy's eyes, a clear view of Kimberly. The fact that Jason had blatantly lied to him about her not coming wasn't on his mind. However, the fact that she was in attendance clearly was on his mind, given his current state. Jason put his arm around Tommy's shoulders, and the man flinched, like he was ready to jump out of his skin and run away. Jason laughed hysterically as he shook his head in amazement.

"Dude, you seriously gotta chillax. People have been giving you funny looks ever since she entered the building. Calm down", Jason managed to say before he broke out into more laughter as Tommy stopped and gave him the look of death briefly, before going back to chewing on his fingernails.

"How can you possibly tell me to calm down at a time like this!? Do you **SEE** who just came in?! Do you **REALIZE** what this means?", he near-yelled at his best friend while Jason took a deep breath and began to say something, but rather, he just burst into more laughter, doubled over, backing slowly towards a chair propped against the wall, while Tommy followed him over, agitated that he was being laughed at right now, when the circumstances were clearly not in his favor.

"Stop laughing!", he snapped at Jason. "This isn't funny at all, bro! What the hell am I supposed to do!? I can't talk to her like this! She'll think that I'm a freak!"

"You'd be right about that", Jason said, finally subsiding the laughter. "She certaintly won't wanna see you all worked up and nervous like this. When and if she does want to see you though, she's gonna wanna see you be yourself. It may be a novel concept for you, but hey, it just might work", Jason managed to say while chuckling a little more, earning him a punch on the shoulder from Tommy. "Ahh dude, lighten up. I understand, you're real excited to see her again. You haven't even decided to kill me for lying to you, I'm surprised!"

"Whatever man. I don't even care about that. Did she see me come in? Did she recognize me with my long hair again!?", he nervously chattered as Jason did his best to not laugh again while looking over at the group, who by now had surrounded Kim and was catching up on old times with her.

"Look at that, bro. They all don't even care that she broke apart from the group and hasn't been in contact with anyone but me and Trini since she moved to Florida. They're all just so glad to see her again. It's like she never left."

Tommy looked over at the group of ex-rangers and observed how happy they all were to see Kimberly again. Jason was right. It seemed as if she never really did leave. Everyone looked estatic. Kim had a sparkle in her eyes that he only remembered seeing when they were together. She was at ease with being around everyone again. But then he caught her look over her shoulder, an uneasy expression painted across her face as she bit her lip. He could tell that she was on the lookout for him.

What exactly had happened to bring the two of them to this point was still something Tommy had tried figuring out on a daily basis. It usually started with him thinking back to their days in high school, when the power still protected him. She was his pink princess. He was her white knight. They were the homecoming king and queen, and they were only juniors when it happened. They had everything they could ever ask for as a couple. They had even talked about marriage and Kim kept telling him how it was her fairy tale dream to settle down with him and have kids. But then everything happened so fast, all at once, that it was just one avalanche after another, and he kept getting snowed in.

A new girl by the name of Katherine Hilliard, now Jason's wife-to-be, had moved to Angel Grove during the middle of their junior year at Angel Grove High. He remembered offering to help her out with her car, thinking that it wouldn't take long and that he'd be over Kim's house to pick her up for their date that day in no time. He ended up doing battle with Goldar and Rito, barely escaping with his life. Then came what seemed like a good natured day at the beach with the gang, with Kat tagging along at Kim's behest. That turned out to be one of the worst day's of his life. Not only was the day ruined by the Tengas, but Kim had her Power Coin stolen, and since at the time, their life forces were directly tied into the coins being in good hands, Kim's life force was slowly beginning to drain away. He had thought being at Goldar's mercy with the green candle was helpless enough, but that didn't compare to seeing the girl he loved more than anything else in the world sitting there, on death's bed so to speak, while he stood there and couldn't do a damn thing about it. He hated that sense of futility and hated seeing Kim there like that, when she needed his help.

Unbeknownst to them all, Katherine had stolen the Crane Ninja Coin and had given it over to Rita and Zedd. Her jealousy for Kimberly drove her actions, not to mention the evil flowing through her veins. While this had all happened, Tommy and their new ally Ninjor, a friend of Zordon and Dulcea's, were battling Goldar, when suddenly, Tommy found himself being ejected from the cockpit of the Falconzord and Ninjor fading away due to the Crane Ninja Coin being in the hands of evil. The Falconzord had been captured and the Ninja Zords were rendered useless as a result. So after that ordeal, while Tommy and the rest of the Rangers were doing battle with one of Zedd's creations, Kat was kidnapped by a group of Tengas. Kimberly, being the courageous, strong and caring girl she was, decided to risk her own life by morphing into her Ninja Ranger form one last time to save Kat. At first, Kim had succeeded in holding the Tengas at bay, but soon, the battle had become too much for her, and she soon fainted and was taken to one of Zedd and Rita's dimensions, where she slowly began to wilt away and die. Zedd, being the sick, evil bastard that he was, decided to toy with Tommy's emotions even more, giving him and the Rangers an ultimatum; either pilot the newly found Shogunzords for Zedd & Rita's evil purposes and get Kimberly back, or watch Angel Grove be destroyed and watch Kimberly die, all while he and the other Rangers could do nothing about it. It was one of the toughest decisions for him to ever make, but being the crafty leader he was, and with a little help from Billy, they had come up with a plan.

While Billy assumed leadership in his absence, he had found a back door entrance to the dimension Kimberly was being held hostage in. Right as he was about to save Kim, Zedd appeared, and it came down to the White Ranger versus Lord Zedd. He remembered never being so scared before in his life facing Zedd. The memory brought chills up his spine. While he battled Zedd, Billy had managed to use the power of the Ninja Coins to tap into the programming of the Shogunzords, and in turn, used them for their own good. After a lengthy battle in which Zedd had the upper hand for most of it, he managed to shatter Zedd's staff and return it to it's serpent form, and Zedd fled the scene, leaving Tommy to be Kim's white knight once more. He rescued her and the team found out that she'd still be able to morph, just with help from the other Rangers and their own coins, and that her life force had been detached from her own coin, that she was safe again. So she thought.

In came Gunthar Schmidt, world famous gymnastics coach. Tommy knew the rest. He asked her to go to Florida with her to train for the Pan Globals. During this, she managed to hit her head on the balance beam one night due to pure exhaustion from her Ranger duties, and ended up in the hospital. Kat saw it all, and due to the good nature of her 911 call, the spell Rita cast on her was broken. After Kim had gotten out of the hospital, she had decided that she would stay in Angel Grove to remain on the team. But with Zordon declaring that she go follow her dreams of competing for the United States in the Pan Globals, that her duty as a Ranger was fulfilled, and with Tommy telling her that she had to stay true to herself, that he would always love her, Kim passed on the Pink Power Coin to Katherine and faded away, a long distance relationship being maintained between the two when she was in Florida training and Tommy was still saving the world. Kim decided to make the trip up to Angel Grove for Christmas that year, much to Tommy and the rest of the team's surprise, and it was probably the happiest Christmas Tommy ever had. He had the power, his friends, and the love of his life. It was also one of the best times that they had ever had intercourse, in Tommy's room at home, a bottle of wine and each other. He remembered how happy the two of them were afterwards. But soon, it was time for Kim to go back to Florida and resume her rigorous training for the Pan Globals. The letters and phone calls had kept coming, well into the time the Rangers gained the new Zeo powers. But then one January afternoon in the Youth Center, Tommy's life changed forever.

He remembered it clearly. Like it was yesterday. It was the day he lost her. He was lifting weights when Ernie dropped a letter off with the gang, saying it was from Kimberly. He asked Adam to read it, and to Tommy's knowledge, Adam still regrets ever opening the letter and reading it. It started out nice enough, Kim telling Tommy about how she was training hard down in Florida. Then the tone changed. She had found someone else. She claimed it was the hardest letter for to ever write, and truth be known, it was the hardest letter he had ever read. She had found someone else. She was sorry for breaking his heart, as it was never her intention to hurt him. She begged forgiveness. All she did was hurt him. All she did was break his heart. With that one letter, she had done something that Rita, Zedd, Goldar, Mondo, Gasket had never done...she had broken his spirit. He struggled to grasp the situation. Why had she done this to him? She had never mentioned another guy in her previous letters. What had caused her to change her mind so suddenly? Tommy contemplated throwing away his morpher and communicator that day, and nearly travelled to Florida to find out what had caused this. Kat, being the good natured girl she was, tried to help fill the void in Tommy's heart by setting him up with another woman, but it wasn't meant to be. His Ranger duties prevented anything from happening. And so, Kat and him had begun to court. He really liked Kat, he really did. She was a great girl, but to Tommy, she was no Kimberly. She filled a void in his heart, but she didn't fully replace the hole that Kim had left when she ripped his heart out and stepped on it. He still loved her. And nothing would ever change that.

And then came the gaining of the Turbo powers and their trip to Muranthias to free Lerigot and his family...not to mention rescue Jason and Kimberly from joining the forces of evil. That was the hardest part of going to Muranthias. Not stopping Divatox's plans to bring Maligore back to life and be his bride. Not rescuing Lerigot and his family. But coming face to face with the woman who had broken his heart into millions of pieces. When they had gotten there, the mere sight of her caused his senses to become distorted, and sooner or later, there he was, looking an evil Kimberly in the eyes and telling her to forget the evil, that it was him, Tommy, and that the Rangers were her and Jason's friends. Right then and there, he wished he had told her that he still loved her, but soon, all he heard was her sick laughter and Jason grabbing him by the throat and threatening to throw him into the pit of lava. Luckily for them, Lerigot restored the good in Kim, but before Jason turned back, Tommy found himself trying to pull Jason out of the pit...with Kimberly helping him out.

_"I'm with you."_

Never did he think that he'd hear something like that come out of her mouth, especially to him, considering. Jason was saved, the Rangers destroyed Maligore with the Turbo Megazord, and all was well. Sort of. At Jason's insistance, despite Tommy not wanting to deal with it, Kimberly rode with Jason and him in Red Lightning on the ride back home to Angel Grove. The two managed to have some friendly banter about how they were glad that she and Jason hadn't been turned evil and how it was good to see the Power Rangers save the day once more, but nothing they talked about mattered to Tommy; he just wanted to tell her that he never stopped loving her and that he wished he could have her back. When they arrived to the Angel Grove shoreline and began the walk back to town, Tommy remembered Kim stopping him, calling his name, seemingly wanting to tell him something. But before she could say anything, Katherine ran up and gave him a big hug and a kiss, a hug and a kiss that he returned gladly. Looking back, he was horrified by ever doing that. He had desperately wanted to know what Kim had to say, but there he was, his face glued to Katherine's. It scarred him to say the least. And that was the last time he had ever seen her...he remembered Jason sighing loudly, and the hurt look in Kim's eyes. Ever since then, he had been reminded of her in small ways, and it hurt every time. Any normal person in his shoes would have been angered at her and wanted nothing to do with her after callously breaking up with him through a letter. Not Tommy, though. He longed for her scent, he longed for her laugh, he longed for her touch, he just wanted her more than ever after Muranthias. But the last image he had of her until tonight was the hurt look she had on her face. He hated seeing her like that.

Tommy shook his head and found himself back in the present, the lights from the ceiling momentarily blinding him as he saw Jason's big hand in front of his face. Jason looked a little worried for his friend, but that worry was replaced with relief when Tommy shook his head and blinked his eyes. He saw that the group was still talking to Kimberly, and that she was having a ball seeing everyone again. He smiled a little, but then was met with Jason questioning what just happened.

"Bro, are you alright? You dozed off there for a little bit. You sleepy or something?"

Tommy took one look at Kimberly's back, the pink dress fitting her petite body perfectly, her chocolate brown hair accenting the dress just fine. He heard her laugh at a joke Adam made, and he felt his heart rise with the pitch in her laughter. He knew how he could see her without her knowing it was him.

"Jason, do you still have that black trenchcoat and black fedora hat back at the apartment?", he suddenly blurted out, causing Jason to give him a funny look and wave his hand in front of his face again.

"What? Why would you ask a question like that? Are you all here, man?", Jason asked, having his hand pushed away by Tommy's hand and realizing that Tommy had a grin on his face, a grin that could only mean something was ticking within his mind.

"Do you still have it or not?"

"Why do you care all of a sudden?"

"I've got an idea."

Jason groaned as a mischevious look came across Tommy's face, his hands rubbing together as he then reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a hair tie to tie his long mahogany hair up into a ponytail. Looking over at the crazed smile on Tommy's face, Jason can't help but smack his forehead.

"You can't be serious, can you?"

"If I'm gonna talk to Kim, I'm not gonna do it as Tommy Oliver."

"You're seriously going to go through all this trouble just to talk to her? For christ's sake man, you dated the girl for how many years? You know her like the back of your hand! Just go and speak to her again!"

"The Tommy of old knew the old Kimberly like the back of his hand. She may be young on the outside, but she's aged mentally. She's changed. She's different now. And I'm gonna find out how different she's become."

"Tommy, do you realize how crazy you sound right now?"

"Do you have the trenchcoat and fedora or not?"

Jason sighed; he hated to have to give in to Tommy's ludicris demands, but if it got him talking to Kimberly again and got those two back on the road to being together, then he'd be all for it...no matter how idiotic it sounded.

"Alright, alright. Just give me a minute. I'm gonna go duck into the hall and teleport the coat and hat here, and then you can go do whatever the hell it is you plan on doing."

"Jase, you're the best bro. Thank you so much. I owe ya one."

"Yeah, you sure do."

"Besides though, isn't this what you want? Me and Kim talking again?"

"Not like this, but it's a start..."

"Nobody's looking. Best duck out and do it now."

Jason sighed loudly and then rolled his eyes. He gave Tommy a questionable look and then walked towards the gym doors and out into the darkened hallway. After checking to make sure the coast was clear, Jason touched his temples and closed his eyes, muttering something to himself, before holding out his arms. Within seconds, the black trenchcoat and fedora appeared in his hands and arms, and he shook his head disapprovingly. Tommy walked out and saw that the stuff was there, and he grinned big. Jason shoved the stuff into his hands and then walked back inside to find the group, who were all standing by the concessions table, still enjoying themselves. Jason did his best to hide his mild frustration as he arrived, but Rocky and Kat immidiately picked up on it as he slid in amongst them all and began to converse.

"Jason, what's with the irritated look?", questioned Rocky as he took a sip of his punch.

"Don't worry about it, man. Long story", he said curtly as Kat wrapped her arm around his and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Are you sure, sweetie? Looks like someone said something to piss you off", she said, seeing right through his facade. "And besides, where's Tommy? I haven't seen him all night."

"Yeah, where is that hopeless romantic?", piped in Rocky, while Jason shook his head in mild disgust as he saw a man in a black trenchcoat covering his body and a black fedora hat pulled over his face to hide it walked into the auditorium and made a beeline straight for the group of ex-Rangers.

"That's where he is", Jason said pointedly as he motioned with his head towards the man rapidly approaching them, no doubt a smile hidden underneath that hat as he got closer.

"Who's that?", asked Kat, looking the man up and down, not realizing who it was underneath that jacket and hat.

"Tommy", was all Jason needed to say as Rocky chuckled and Kat's eyes grew wide with shock. The man dressed in all black got close to the group and then took one look at them all, lifting the hat slightly to give them a wink of his eye while they all stared in him in amazement. Kimberly had her back turned, but as soon as she did, she was met with this mystery man in black.

"Are you Kimberly Hart?", Tommy said huskily, throwing his voice on purpose, hoping that she wouldn't notice him as he extended his hand towards her. She was skeptical, but after taking one look at Aisha and Trini, who both nudged her in the shoulder, she found her voice and answered this man's question.

"I'm the only Kimberly Hart I know of. And you are?", she asked curiously, the voice sounding vaguely familiar to her, but she couldn't quite match it up with a face, as this man's face was covered by the hat.

"An old friend. Care to dance?", he asked rather hastily as she looked around at the gang, and they were all doing their best to surpress their laughter as they nodded their heads and told her go for it. She bit her lip but then decided that it'd be good to get out on the dance floor with whoever it was. _"Maybe this guy's a better dancer than Andrew and Tommy were..",_ she thought to herself as she took the mystery man's hand and was led out onto the dance floor.

"Uh, sure! Why not? I haven't danced in forever!", she said excitedly as she turned back to the group and gave them a look of confusement or glee, it was hard to tell with her sometimes. As she was led further away, the group just laughed hysterically at their former leader's gumption and gusto, just to be able to talk to Kimberly again.

"Oh boy, that Tommy Oliver...he'd do anything to be in Kim's presence", commented Zack as he slapped Jason on the back and laughed.

"Of all the things for Tommy to do, this was something I wouldn't expect from him", Trini said quietly, a small smile across her face.

"That was most intriguing", Billy managed to say.

"Leave it to Tommy to find a way of talking to Kimberly without doing it as himself", Aisha said as she latched onto Rocky's arm and shook her head, chuckling.

"I think he took the meaning of 'high school reunion' a little to seriously there, guys", said Adam as the entire group just broke out into fits of laughter once again.

Meanwhile, on the dance floor, Kim and Tommy were seen dancing to the beat of the music, holding each other's hands and swaying back and forth. It was a little awkward at first, but after a few tense moments of silence, Tommy broke the ice and began to speak to his former love.

"So uh, Ms. Hart...been a while since I seen you. How're you doing?", he asked as he continued to badly throw his voice, praying that she wouldn't catch onto his ploy. "How was the Pan Globals and Florida?"

"Oh well, you know...it was alright while it lasted. I got two gold medals at the Pan Globals, and then another gold at the Olympics. But after that, I just lost...I just lost the passion for gymnastics. Like something was missing", she said quietly as the music turned to a song that she often found herself repeating while she stared at herself in the mirror back home in Jacksonville.

_"If I could I would do all of this again_

_Travel back in time with you to where this all began_

_We could hide inside ourselves and leave the world behind_

_And make believe there's something left to find"_

"Oh, well, would you look at that", Tommy said gruffly as he too, remembered the song. He was doing a good job so far with keeping his identity secret from her. Hopefully he could keep it up.

"Wow, what're the odds of that?", she asked, surprised that the man knew the song as well. "Anything else you wanna ask me, Mr. Man?"

_"We'll be miles apart_

_I'll keep you deep inside_

_You're always in my heart_

_A new life to start_

_I may be leaving but you're always in my heart"_

"Why'd you ever leave Angel Grove? I thought you loved it here", Tommy asked, hoping he wasn't digging too deep and hitting too hard. Kim thought about that question for a bit, looking down at her heels as she swam amongst her thoughts.

"I don't know. I regret leaving", was all she said, trailing off as she looked at the auditorium around her, so full of life. "I had a great life here, back in the day. Great friends. Great memories...and I..oh, nevermind, you probably don't wanna hear that."

_"Now we've all grown up, gone on and moved away_

_Nothing I can do about it, nothing I can say_

_To bring us back to where we were when life was not this hard (life was not this hard)_

_Looking back it all just seems so far, so far away"_

"No, don't stop. I'd love to hear what it is you have to say. We've got until the end of the song. And besides, I'm a good listener", Tommy said softly as his grip on Kimberly's hand tightened, hoping that she'd tell him what he really wanted to hear; that she missed him as much as he missed her.

"I just wish I had never broken away from my friends here like I did. It was like I forgot all about them, forgot all of the memories we shared and all the good times we had. I was so stupid for doing that."

"There was something else you were saying before that. Something about having a good something, you trailed off before you finished."

"It hurts to bring it up, but you seem like a trustworthy guy, Mr. Man, whoever you are. Might as well tell someone else and spill my guts..."

"Go on. I'm listening."

"It's just...there was a guy that I dated back in high school. He was a real great guy. He'd always be there for me when I was down. He'd always give me his love and compassion. He was the one for me. I know this sounds somewhat childish, considering that everyone here has moved on and grown up, but doing that is the one thing I truly, deeply regret doing. We dated for close to four years, before I stupidly broke it off when I was in Florida...I sent him this Dear John letter...there's just so much that I could say...but there really is only one thing to say...", Kim nervously said as she looked up at the man's hidden face, noticing that he was listening with all the intent in the world. She saw something in this man's gaze that looked oddly familiar to her, but she decided that it'd be best to leave it until later.

_"We'll be miles apart_

_I'll keep you deep inside_

_You're always in my heart_

_A new life to start_

_I may be leaving but you're always in my heart"_

"And what would be this one thing to say?", Tommy said softly, desperately wanting to her her say the words he had dreamt that she'd say to him.

_"I'd give it up for just one more day with you_

_Give it up for just one more day_

_I'd give it up for just one more day with you_

_I'd give it up for just one more day with you_

_Give it up for just one more day_

_I'd give it up for just one more day with you_

_I'd give it up for just one more day with you_

_Give it up, give it all away_

_I'd give it up for just one more day with you"_

"That one thing to say, since you asked and care so much to know...", Kim trailed off once more, the burden and emotional pain becoming a bit too much for her at the moment.

_"We'll be miles apart_

_I'll keep you deep inside_

_You're always in my heart_

_A new life to start_

_I may be leaving but you're always in my heart"_

"Yes?", Tommy said eagerly and anxiously.

_"I need you now, we're miles apart_

_I'll keep you deep inside_

_You're always in my heart_

_I need you now, we're miles apart_

_I may be leaving but you're always in my heart"_

"I...I...miss him...so much..."

"Oh Kimberly...I mi...I mean, Ms. Hart...whoever that man was...I'm sure he misses you too...just as much as you miss him..."

The song had ended, and Kimberly looked up into this mystery man's hidden gaze. His brown eyes stood out, and Kim's brow furrowed in confusement. The emotion was apparent on his face. She could even see some mahogany hair poking out from underneath the hat. Something was up. She felt as if she had seen this man before.

"You look really, really familiar, Mr. Man...do I know you?", she asked innocently, a small smile on her face as she poked his chest, gazing into what she thought were the man's eyes, she couldn't really tell with the hat covering most of his face.

"Like I said...I'm an old friend."

Tommy stopped throwing his voice. He had hoped that she picked up on it this time. Her eyes grew wide with anxiety as her lip began to tremble. She had definatly heard that voice before. It sounded all to familiar now. _"Oh my god...",_ she thought to herself.

"Tommy? Is...is that...you?"

But before Tommy could answer her question, the question he wanted to answer badly, a shriek was heard coming from the left, behind Tommy, and before the two of them knew it, the entire auditorium was filled with screams of horror as debris flew all over the place. The first thing Tommy did was instinctively wrap Kimberly up in his arms, to protect her from harm's way, as he struggled to stare through the dust and see what was going on. "What the hell was that?!", he screamed aloud as he held onto his former girlfriend, who, upon taking one look at her, was scared beyond all belief. Tommy, still struggling to look and see what had caused the mess, had his answer within seconds. The cold, shrill laughter ran up his spine, bringing back unwanted memories from his past. As the dust settled, he saw what had caused the wall to be ripped apart and explode. His eyes grew to the size of golf balls, as his jaw dropped and fear took over his body. His fears from earlier today...had just come true.

"Look at all of you sniveling humans! How pathetic! You'd think you'd all know how to welcome the return of the dark lord of all evil, but you're all too busy running away! Show a little liveliness! **HA HA HA HA HA HA!"**

**"Zedd",** Tommy choked out as Kim lifted her head to try and steal a glance at his face. But before she could, another blast from Zedd's staff sent some chairs flying, one of them landing dangerously close to the two of them. By now, the rest of the gang had ran to their spot and huddled together, all of them scared out of their wits, to say the least. Jason leaned in and cupped his hand to Tommy's ear, inaudibly whispering to him as he stole a glance at Zedd...and Goldar...and Rito.

"What the fuck is going on!?", he whispered to Tommy, as he saw Zedd beckon for Goldar and Rito to begin tearing the place apart on their own.

"What the hell do you think is going on!?", Tommy whispered back as Zedd let loose another blast of energy onto the floor, the smoldering ash filtering through the air now. The sprinkler system would go off any moment now.

"How...but...should we call the Dino Rangers?", was all Jason managed to stammer out while the group around him began to nervously chatter, while Kim gripped the front of Tommy's coat tightly, not wanting to let go, feeling safe in his presence, even though she didn't quite know that it was him yet.

"It'd look too suspicious. There's too many people around. We'd have to clear the place out before I could get a hold of them", Tommy said as he looked around and saw much of the same; everyone cowering in fear. This was all too surreal. It reminded him of the nightmares he used to have after he stopped being the Black Dino Ranger. He somehow had a feeling that Zedd or Rita would come back, he just didn't know which. His nightmare had been confirmed. Zedd was back.

"How is dark royalty supposed to get his message across when you all hide and run!? Show me some respect, damn you! It's not like I **WANTED** to crash this awful attempt at a reunion! But something brought to me by one of my minions made me want to ruin this little gathering of you horrible little humans. So not only...is this your precious little high school reunion...but it is also the reunion of...those god awful...**POWER RANGERS!"**

The room grew quiet, before chatter about the original Rangers gave way. The gang looked at each other nervously as they stared back up at Zedd, who was perched on a black cloud of energy, while Goldar and Rito returned to his side, obediant servants that they were.

"Sire, we were unable to find anyone close to resembling the Power Rangers", Goldar sneered as Rito twirled his bone sword around in his hands while Zedd scoffed and yelled down at his gold servant.

**"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T FIND THEM!?",** he bellowed loud enough for everyone to hear and cover their ears instinctively. The ex-Rangers stood their ground, barely out of sight from Zedd's line of vision, huddling closer to each other.

"What're we gonna do?", asked a scared Tanya as she held Adam's arm tightly, not wanting to let go.

"There's nothing we can do except hope that they don't see us!", bemoaned Kat as she felt Jason's grip around her waist.

"Fuck man, this isn't how I planned on spending my time back here in Angel Grove!", exclaimed Adam as everyone stayed huddled together.

"We couldn't find anyone close to them, Lord Zedd", Goldar repeated as he cowered in fear of his master. "All of these pathetic humans are just that; pathetic humans!", he exclaimed as Rito began to pipe in as well.

"Yeah, Ed! We found nothing close to a Power Ranger!", he yelled as Zedd took his staff and swung it like a baseball bat at the back of Rito's head, knocking the skeleton's cranium off onto the ground, leaving Rito's body to struggle to find it.

**"IT'S ZEDD, YOU IDIOT! Z-E-D-D! ZEDD! I'M NOT GOING TO SAY IT AGAIN!",** he yelled at the top of his lungs while Rito managed to grab hold of his head and twist it on again, though with great difficulty.

"Fuck, you didn't need to do that, Ed! I mean Zedd! Zedd!", Rito pleaded as Zedd snarled and looked back at Goldar, stomping his staff on the ground.

"You found _NO_ evidence of any Power Ranger?", he questioned as the group hoped that they wouldn't be found out right in front of the entire auditorium filled with civilians. Goldar nodded his disapproval and Zedd then growled and proceeded to punch Goldar square in his jaw, blood flowing from the blow as Goldar clutched his jaw and did his best to stop the black blood from falling onto the ground. **"YOU ARE USELESS! BOTH OF YOU! WHY DID I BRING YOU BACK IN THE FIRST PLACE?!",** he yelled louder than before. "No matter! If you two bumbling morons can't locate those powerless Rangers, then I'll just have to do it myself! Citizens of Angel Grove! I hope you all love my gift! It is the first of many you are to recieve...because if you didn't already know...**LORD ZEDD...IS BACK!",** he screeched as he lifted his staff and pointed to a crack in the wooden floor, a blast of lightning emerging from the tip of the staff and hitting the crack in the ground. "Have fun with my present!", he said evily as he, Goldar and Rito disappeared in a red cloud, presumably back to the moon.

The crack in the floor began to smolder and light up into flames, much to everyone's horror. Smoke began to peek out of the cracks, and before long, the crack began to separate, revealing a hole in the ground that looked like it led to the underground...the mouth of Hell. Molten lava began to spurt out of it onto the ground, the smoke wavering up towards the ceiling as everyone yelled at what was coming next. The lava and rock that was forming on the ground was beginning to take shape. Jason, Tommy and the rest of the group, except for Kim, who still had her face buried in Tommy's chest, saw what was being formed from the rock and lava. The grey heads began to take shape, the metal "Z's" on their chest forming, and the red, piercing eyes...not to mention that sound they made. And to the left of them, a group of big black birds with purple shields of sorts on their chests. They gawked and crowed as they began to flap their new-born wings.

"Putties!", yelled out Zack as this nightmare more realistic by the second.

"And Tengas!", screamed Aisha as she put her hand to her mouth and pointed towards the lot of them. By now, Kimberly had ripped her head out of Tommy's chest and stared at the Putties and Tengas with fright, tears beginning to stream from her eyes down her cheeks as she felt someone, probably Jason, grab a hold of her and hug her tightly. "No, no, no no no...not this again...I don't wanna see this again..no no no...why can't we just live normal lives...no, no, no, **NO**!", she shrieked as Jason covered her mouth with his hand, the tears freely flowing as the Tengas and Putties craned their necks and looked towards the group of ex-Rangers. One look at them was all it took for the Tengas and Putties to slowly advance towards them, looking to rip them apart in front of everyone.

Jason's eyes widened with fear, as did everyone else's, as the horrible monsters slowly made up ground and approached them. "What're we gonna do?", he yelled out as he looked Tommy straight in the eye, waiting for an answer.

"We gotta get everyone out of here first before we do anything!", he screamed as the monsters grew closer and closer. "We may not have powers anymore, but we can still take them out! We know how to deal with the Putties and Tengas, but we gotta evacuate the place first!", he said, though he could barely hear his own words being spoken to Jason, who gave him a questionable look, before his eyes grew wide with shock and dismay at what he was seeing.

_"Tommy, look!",_ was all he could hear Jason say, as everything around him was becoming distorted and fuzzy.

All around him, his vision was becoming bleaker and bleaker by the second. He caught one last glimpse of the Putties and Tengas, before noticing something that he hadn't seen in years; multi-colored streaks of light. One second, he felt Kimberly's arm in his grasp, and the next, he felt nothing. He looked around to see that it wasn't happening to Jason, Tanya, Katherine, Zack or Trini. One by one, he saw Rocky, Adam, Aisha, Billy and Kimberly disappear, and before he knew it, he felt light as a feather, floating through the night skies towards an unknown destination. Part of Tommy wanted to wake up from this horrible nightmare and laugh it off. But he wasn't sleeping. He was wide awake. His body felt electrically charged, something he hadn't felt since his Dino Thunder days. He felt nausious, weak, but part of him felt juiced up on energy as he flew through the air. He barely made out the other colored streaks of light as he travelled at light speed towards wherever he was going. After what seemed like forever and ever, Tommy finally slowed down and found himself going down a giant chimney-like object, a rabbit hole almost, into darkness. He awoke after several seconds to find himself in a darkened room. Instinctively, his first thing was to call out to see if anyone else was with him.

"Billy!? Adam?! Rocko? Anyone there?", he called out as he heard his voice echo off of the walls.

"Urgh..."

Tommy squinted through the darkness and barely made out Rocky's red-clad figure, holding his head as he leaned up against a wall. Tommy breathed a sigh of relief. He scratched the back of his head and found that it was a tangled mess, the fedora hanging off the tip of his head. He stood up, grabbing hold of what felt like a computer panel as he struggled with his senses once more to find someone, anyone.

"Rocko! Where are you?", he said aloud as he heard more groaning coming from right in front of him, as he stumbled amongst the darkness to find his friend's body hidden in it. After a few moments, he felt a hand on another panel, and assumed that it was Rocky's. "Rocko, that you man? You alright?"

"Ugh...yeah man...it's me...what the hell happened back there? I remember seeing...Putties and Tengas...and then I just remember blacking out...and...where are we?", Rocky stammered as he barely made out Tommy's face amongst the darkness.

"I don't know man. I just remember Zedd vanishing and then flying through the air. You find anyone else?", he asked nervously as he leaned up against the panel, trying to gather his thoughts after what had just happened over the past ten minutes.

"Ohhh...what happened? What's going on?", said Adam through gritted teeth as Tommy and Rocky saw a shadow pull himself up to a hunched position on another panel. Something felt like it was moving underneath them as they squinted through the darkness.

"I wish I had an answer, Adam", they heard Billy choke out as he too got to a standing position and heaved a deep sigh out of his lungs. "You two alright?", Tommy said as he caught his bearings and saw who he thought was Billy walk over towards his voice, albeit with great difficulty. "Where are the girls?", asked Rocky as he heard a yelp of pain, recognizing it as Aisha's as he heard a thump, which could have only been her head hitting the lowest part of the panel as she stood up.

"Ow! What the heck gives!?", she said as she felt around for a place to pick herself up off the cold ground, instead feeling another hand blindly reach out for hers. Touching it a few times, she grabbed hold of it and was picked up to her feet. "Thanks".

"Where's Kimberly?"

The group stopped what they were doing and squinted in the direction of Tommy's voice echoing throughout the building they were in. The last thing any of them heard her say was when she inadvertantly caught the attention of the Putties and Tengas. After that, it was anyone's best guess as to what happened to her. Though they couldn't make out his face in the dark, the tone of his voice told the rest of the group that he was concerned for her well being. A soft groan coming from the floor was all that they needed for confirmation as to Kim's whereabouts. Tommy let out a relieved sigh as he saw either Rocky or Adam crouch down and gently pick her head up off the ground, while another one of them took her hand and guided her back to her feet, but not before she let out a scream.

"Where are we?! What's going on!? Hello?! Is anyone there?!"

"Girl, calm down! We're all here, we're all alive! Calm down, Kimmie!", Aisha cooly said as Kim began to hyperventilate, the shock of teleporting apparantly not wearing off.

"How did that happen though?", questioned Rocky. "I mean, what happened? It felt as if we...you know...", he trailed off as he rubbed the back of his head.

"We teleported", Billy finished for him. "It's weird, I know. I don't get it...how could something like that happen? We haven't held any powers for the longest of time", he muttered. "Well, everyone except Fearless over there", he snickered as he remembered what Jason had told him back at the reunion, Tommy rolling his eyes as he tugged on his ponytail, taking the hair tie out of it and sticking it back into the coat pocket.

"But how?", Adam echoed as he voiced his concern over the sudden trip. A loud click was heard, and that's he would need for an answer. Gears began to whir into motion around them as the darkness slowly faded away in favor of bright, blinking lights. Lights on the panels around them began to light up as well, blinking madly as giant poles came into focus, with three colored rings on them flashing one at a time. The floor beneath them began to move slowly, in a circle motion, a giant orb in the middle of it serving as the pendulumn motion. Behind them, a static noise could be heard, with screams heard behind the reception. Turning around, the group saw a giant globe-like orb with the image of people running in terror, screaming their lungs out as fires raged on behind them, momentarily catching a glimpse of the Putties and Tengas wrecking the auditorium and expanding out into the streets. What they saw next was Jason and the rest of the gang that didn't get teleported here lead the civilians out of the auditorium, fear written all over their faces as they did their best to evacuate the building before it went up in flames. The group collectively gasped as they saw this, but their attention was diverted towards a lock unclicking, and the opening of a huge door behind them. They turned around to see a giant tube, which could only mean one thing. Except the tube was empty, hollow, a ghostly reminder of what and who once lived in it. The door locked, and they heard the shuffling of metal feet across the glass floor growing closer to their position.

"What?", was all Tommy managed to say as he looked at the rest of the guys and girls to his sides, all of them in shock and disbelief at what they were looking at.

"No way...", Aisha muttered as the robot stopped in the middle of the room and looked at them, his hockey puck-like head as gold as ever, the red lights that were his eyes blinking feverishly as he cleared his anamatronic voice box prepared himself to speak. The ex Rangers looked around and realized their surroundings. They were in the Command Center. And Alpha was standing right in front of them, the real deal, no mirage. Their jaws dropped, this night just getting wierder and wierder by the minute.

"Welcome back...old friends of mine."

It was about to get much wierder from here on out.


	6. Resurrected At Last

**AN: Thank you all for being so patient with this next chapter getting up, I've just been swamped with school, my job and life overall lately. I hope you all enjoy! And as you all know, I don't own the Power Rangers. If I did, I'd of done a reunion show and got Kim and Tommy back together. Oh well. Enjoy!**

The flashing lights in the building were enough to drive any normal person blind, but the six people standing in the center of it were anything but normal. They were used to being around such bright atmospheres like this. But this was something they hadn't expected on seeing once more, if ever again, considering how their collective lives had moved on past this years ago. As they all stared on in stunned silence, watching the lights blink repeatedly and feeling the floor beneath them slowly move in a circle, the realization of what was before them was beginning to sink in, but they other than that small feeling of familiarity, they simply couldn't believe what was before their very eyes. The robot at the head of the room looked on, not knowing what to say to his old friends, so rather, he let them digest this all before anything further could be spoken.

Just mere minutes ago, the entire old gang was together, having a great time laughing it up as their old leader went through the trouble to disguise himself so that he could get near the former love of his life, the heart of the old group. After spending so many years apart from one another, they all got along like they had never left the duty that once bonded them together as one big family. Everything was going great for them as they talked about their lives and how they were all doing. It was good to be back...and then the party came crashing down on them.

Fire. Pain. Brimstone. Bodies everywhere. The building had turned into a war zone for suffering, for agony.

Evil was back and with it, all of the old, horrifying memories of a past that seemed all too real again.

Adam looked at the flashing orb in the middle of the floor that served as the rotating axis for it's circular movement and let a small sigh of dismay escape his lips as he ran his hand through his curly black hair. The suit he had got for this occasion was now ruined, the tie ripped in half and barely hanging on by a thread, the jacket covered in dirt and dust, and the shirt rumpled and torn up a bit. But his thoughts weren't on the suit, nor were they on what he was surrounded by. He closed his eyes and tried to conjure an image, but he couldn't. His mind was too clouded at the moment. He tried once more but quickly gave up. He couldn't bring himself to see the happiness that he shared with Tanya in his head. As he stopped himself from remembering any further, his thoughts began to wander to the auditorium at the high school, to the innocent civilians, then finally to Tanya and the rest of the group. He hoped she was alright, that Jason and Zack had managed to lead them all to safety, away from...from them. He just had to know if Tanya was safe, but given where he was, where ever it was, he didn't know what to expect.

Billy gazed at the empty tube, studying it's shape, size and how it looked like it was protected by everything surrounding it. He also made a note to himself that it looked like a home for someone, a base of operations within it's own base of operations, it would seem. It looked awfully familiar to him, but he shook his head in denial, it couldn't be what he was thinking it was. There was just no way that this place was real. To him, it felt like a bad dream, one that he would hopefully wake up from any minute now, to find his wife Cestria lying beside him, their baby boy Titus in the other room, sleeping comfortably on their home back up on Aquitar. He closed his eyes for a moment and thought about all of that, how it brought warmth to his cold blood, but when he opened his eyes, he felt like he needed to purge his insides and vomit. This was reality, and the reality was making it's way back into his body, a feeling that Billy didn't want to experience anymore. He briefly glanced at the robotic being at the head of the room and quickly turned away, his eyes shut tightly and his jaw clenched in fear as he prayed that none of this was happening.

Aisha sighed loudly as she began to straighten out her dirty and tattered clothing as best as she could. In her mind, what just happened to her and her friends was the least of her concerns, which shocked herself as she stared down at her heels and began to get the dust off of them while her eyes darted to the flashing orb in the middle of the room. It moved in such a slow motion, she found herself in a mini-trance, watching it make it's rotation as if it were a tortoise trying to reach a pond for a drink of water. She then stood upright and glanced around at the room, the flashing lights drawing her in and keeping her interested as to what this could possibly all mean. The horrifying images that were filtering in and out of her head were flashing before her eyes at such a rapid rate, she was getting a headache thinking about them, as if flying through the sky didn't already do that for her. Was it that? Did she seriously...teleport again? No, it couldn't of been that. She hadn't done that in years, and she knew what it felt like. What happened felt completely and totally different. It felt...it felt like that rush of adrenaline you get when you go for a long run. Except it wasn't a run. It was jetting. Or at least it felt like that.

Rocky cracked his neck both ways before stretching upward and then outward to crack his aching back after the hard landing he took on the floor when he felt like he was dumped right out of the sky, like God had finished playing with him and dropped him back into the proverbial toy box to play with another one. As he finished stretching his legs out to make sure he didn't fall back down again, he looked up at the ceiling, and then looked at the giant hole that served as the chimney of the place it seemed. It was a good ten, maybe twelve foot drop from the hole up in the ceiling to the floor he found himself standing on. Perhaps it was even more than that, he didn't know. All he knew and felt was the shooting pain in his neck and lower back thanks to that fall. He then looked to everyone, trying to read their emotions, but he just couldn't do it at the moment. It varied from person to person. He closed his eyes for a moment and thought back to the reunion, how good it felt to see Aisha again after so many years. He then opened them up and saw the flashing lights on the walls, on the poles, and in the floor. A heavy sigh escaped his lips. He didn't know what he himself was feeling.

Tommy blinked. Then he blinked again. He thought to himself that if he kept blinking, he'd find himself back in the auditorium, dancing with Kimberly, wearing the rediculous hat and jacket that Jason gave him. He looked down and around at himself to see that at least one thing was right, as he brushed some dirt off the jacket and saw that the fedora was at his feet. Taking the jacket off and letting it fall to the floor, he searched the surroundings and saw the robot, front and center. His jaw jutted out slightly to the left as he rubbed the back of his head, his hair feeling ratty and frizzy. He saw Billy and noticed how he was trying not to vomit. He saw Adam, who looked distraught about something. He couldn't read Rocky, he just looked lost. He saw Aisha and noticed how heavily she was breathing. He then looked for Kimberly, but a small, though nearly inaudible sniffle was all it took for him to look down on the floor to find her. There she was, curled up in a ball, sitting under one of the panels, her eyes red and tears freely flowing down her cheeks. He so badly wanted to comfort her, but he was too busy trying to grasp the situation, and he was smart enough to realize that she'd outright reject his help after being away from him for so long. He had a feeling that she still harbored a world of regret over sending the letter, and he couldn't blame her. It still burned inside of him like a raging inferno, the thought of it angering him greatly, but he still wanted her to be a part of his life either way. He then looked back up to check the building out, then bowing his head back down in disappointment. He had given this up a few years ago, presumably for good, and now it was back to bite him in the ass. Why could he never escape this? Why was all he was asking himself as he balled his fists up and gritted his teeth, doing his absolute best to keep his emotions in check.

Down on the floor, Kimberly was still sobbing. But her thoughts weren't on what was currently going on around her. Rather, she was in a daydream, a fantasy land. She was back home in Florida, and the sun was beginning to set on the day. Neveah was out with her friends at the movies, so Kimberly had the house to herself, watching the sunset from her balcony as Tom Jones was heard playing in the background. As the light wind whispered through her hair and touched her skin gently, she felt at ease with the world around her. Her life was good. She was finally happy, content with everything. She had a beautiful, loving daughter who was like her in nearly every aspect of life. She had a great job that paid well and had amazing benefits, not to mention all of the friends she had there to boot. She had a gorgeous house in a nice neighborhood, she had her gold medals...she had everything she could ever ask for, except for one thing. She'd trade everything she had, with the exception of her daughter, for one thing, and that was for someone to hold her and tell her _"I love you."_ Looking at the hills in the distance from her position on the balcony, then looking down at the streets in her neighborhood as people walked their dogs and children rode by on their bycicles, a sad grin crept across Kimberly's lips as she rubbed her bare shoulder, before something inside the house caught her attention. Turning around and walking back inside, she saw a man with his back turned to her, facing the front door. Not thinking twice about whether it could be a burglar or anything of the sort, she approached the man with great intrigue, but also great caution. The man stood straight up, still facing the door, and sighed. Instantly, she thought it was Andrew finally coming back home to her. She put her hand on the man's shoulder and turned him around, but was utterly shocked to see Tommy standing there, a big smile on his lips, his face lit up with excitement. She was floored by this revelation, and she went to say something, but Tommy hushed her and put his fingers on her lips. Once more, she went to say something, but this time Tommy kissed her, crushing his lips against hers as she didn't fight to resist, willingly letting him do it. It had been so long since she experienced it, and it felt good. But then he stopped, pulled away and began to laugh maniacally. She tried to step back but his grip around her arms tightened, there was no use in fighting it. Soon, Tommy Oliver began to melt away...and Lord Zedd was in his place, his evil cackle chilling her heart as she opened her eyes, the nightmare over it would seem, letting out a piercing shrill that startled everyone in the room, including the robot. Aisha walked over and sat down next to her old friend and began to comfort the rattled former Pink Ranger as everyone cast them concerned looks.

All six of them had no idea what to expect. But they were all thinking the same thing at one point or another.

_"What the fuck is going on here!?"_

Luckily for them, the robot at the head of the room was ready and able to explain everything to the six humans in front of him.

"Now, I know what you are all thinking...and believe me, I know how it feels after going through it for the first time in a while...but you all have to bear with me here", he began as neither of the guys or girls offered anything in the form of objection. "You all must be wondering what you just saw, what just happened to your bodies, and where you currently are at the moment, and I have all of the answers you seek. Don't be afraid, because I know deep down, you all remember this place, and you all remember me, no matter how hard you try to forget. You could never forget the bond that you all shared with one another."

Everyone but Kimberly turned their heads to face Alpha as he stood his ground, his circular head bobbing back and forth with each word he spoke. They all didn't know what to think. They felt lost, left out in the dark with no sense of direction. Here they all were, in the place they once collectively called their second home, the Command Center. At least they thought that this was the Command Center. But...

"How can this be?", Billy managed to choke out as he was still fighting the nausia inside his body, leaning back on a panel to make sure he didn't fall down from the exhaustion.

"That's a very good question, Billy. As some of you may know, many years ago, the Command Center was blown up, destroyed by Rito Revolto and Goldar as they attempted to steal the Zeo Crystal for their own evil gains. While me and Zordon managed to get to the Power Chamber in the nick of time and the Zeo Crystal was saved by those who held the Zeo powers, the Command Center was gone forever, reduced to a pile of rubble and debris. From there, the Power Chamber was moved just west of the old Command Center ruins, and the rest is history, for those of you who know", Alpha noted as he turned his head ever so slightly towards Tommy, as he snorted and smirked. _"He must of done his homework...",_ Tommy thought to himself as Alpha continued on.

"After me and Zordon made our way back to Eltar, Zordon was kidnapped by Divatox while the Space Rangers tried to find him and dealt with Astronema, Darkonda, Ecliptor and Dark Spector. It was soon thereafter that I learned of the impending war that was about to be waged between the United Alliance Of Evil and the remaining strongholds of good in the universe, the Space Rangers included. So while Eltar fell under attack, naturally, I was singled out by Dark Spector's forces and thus, a bounty was put out on me. While they gave chase and searched the planet for me, I decided that the best thing to do was play dead. And that's exactly what I did. I scrounged up old body parts that I had discarded over the years and littered them out in an open field. They did no further investigations as to how it happened or who did it. They had what they wanted, it seemed. So while I sadly bid farewell to Eltar, I fled back down here to Earth. By then, the war had been over and good triumphed in the end. As I made due with living in the mountains, I was on a trip one day, analyzing data from the war when I stumbled upon a rather large rock formation. Intrigued, I made my way to the center of the valley and, as you guessed it, I came across the ruins of the old Command Center."

"They weren't...they weren't...nobody noticed the ruins lying here? Nobody came across it and did anything?", Adam said curtly as he glanced down once more at Aisha and Kimberly, Aisha doing her best to console Kim, who was still crying and had her head down. Alpha went to go say something more about how the Command Center came to be again, but he noticed his old friend in the state she was, and so he began to shuffle over towards her, hoping that she would remember him and therefore stop crying. Alpha hated it when he saw his friends cry.

"Kimberly...are you...alright?", he asked as he stood mere feet from her and Aisha as Aisha jerked her head upwards to look at Alpha, instantly waving him off and whispering to him that now wasn't the time to try and see if she was alright. Alpha nodded his head and exhaled a sigh loud enough for Kimberly to hear. Looking up, she saw Alpha and instantly began to cry harder, muttering to herself, "This can't be, this can't be...", before finally letting out another shrill scream and yelling, "Why is this happening to me!? **Why the fuck is this happening to me!!",** before Aisha grabbed her head and cradled it in her arms, Kim's chestnut hair covering her face as she sobbed uncontrollably, her head resting in Aisha's arms and on her shoulder while Alpha backed away and proceeded to move on with the story.

"So as I was saying before, friends, I came across the ruins and was amazed to find them as they had been left when I last saw them many years ago. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy and shocked at the same time. I couldn't believe it was left that way, so right then and there, I made a choice to go back to Eltar and equip myself with the proper tools so that the building you are in right now would be rebuilt to it's former glory", he quipped as everyone but Kim, who still had her head buried in Aisha's hands, looked astounded at what he was saying. None of them wanted to believe him, but they found themselves slowly doing so, slipping back into that sense of familiarity that came with being inside the compounds of their old secret post.

"You came back down here with all those tools?", Rocky asked, surprise in his voice.

"Well, no, I didn't make one trip, Rocky. I would come down here for months at a time, beginning from scratch and making my way upwards. As you must realize, it took me a great deal of time to finish building it back to what it was, so I would enlist help from fellow Eltarians to make sure this place would be operational. And one week ago, the Command Center was up and running again."

The gang stared in disbelief at their surroundings. Even now, years after they had all surrendered their powers and moved on with their lives, they could always remember what the Command Center looked like on the outside and inside, through old photographs or their own memories. And it looked exactly the same. The only thing that was missing...was the man that brought them all together in the first place.

"Before I ask the obvious question that is probably on everyone else's mind...my first few questions are...how did you know where to find us? How did you know what happened? Did you have prior warning about it? Can you tell us anything about what we just saw? Was it all smoke and mirrors? Or was...was it the real deal?", Tommy asked in rapid fire succession, while everyone nodded their heads in agreement, though rather uneasily.

"You are in a state of shock, Tommy. All of you are, some more so than others", Alpha trailed off, stealing a look at the down-trodden Kimberly, hints of sadness in his voice as he continued on. "It is alright. I was expecting this from you all. I take it you all think that this is some sick, horrible dream where Lord Zedd has returned to destroy the balance of peace that Angel Grove has been enjoying for many years, that he has come back to make your lives a living hell and to kill everything in his path until he has total control over Earth. Am I right in this thinking?", Alpha said without any hesitation and without any fear. The group looked at each other, their eyes interlocking with one another, before looking back at Alpha and nodding their heads slowly in agreement once more.

"You then are all probably thinking about what could possibly be coming next. Thinking about why I have called you six here, the auditorium under siege, Angel Grove being heavily bombarded, your friends left behind to fend for themselves while innocent civilians flee for their very lives, some lives already lost. You're all thinking that I've called you here to ask you the single biggest question of your lives...again."

Stunned silence befell the gang as the only sounds heard were Alpha's voice echoing off the walls and Kimberly's soft sobs. This was all too surreal, too damn realistic for it to be a nightmare. Could Zedd really be back? Could Angel Grove really be the battle grounds for evil's hostile takeover once again? Could the Command Center and Alpha be a mirage, or the real thing? Could the gang all really be standing here in this room, reunited as a group for the first time in over a decade? There were so many questions to be answered, but it seemed there was so little time to answer them. Alpha let them stand in their silence for a few moments before speaking perhaps the most chilling words any of them had ever heard him speak.

"Right now you're probably thinking that now is the time when the nightmare ends and you wake up, huh?"

Everyone stood up, rigid as a board, fear in their eyes as Billy's jaw dropped, before he doubled over, doing his best to contain his dinner, while Adam and Rocky put their hands on their foreheads and began to think the situation over. Aisha closed her eyes and bit her lower lip, her grip on Kim's head getting tighter as Kim said something about how this was the worst night of her life, while Tommy, the fearless leader and man who had gone through more powers, weapons and color changes than any other Power Ranger in history, stood there, a blank, emotionless expression on his face. But his mind was a machine, whirring in motion with many thoughts racing through the bowels of his brain as he stared at Kimberly, wanting to be the one holding her, before his eyes were averted back to Alpha. _"This can't be happening to me, not again, not after I drained my Dino Gem of all it's power and tucked it away in the house...I'm so fucking sick of this coming back to haunt me! Why the hell did I ever agree to become a Ranger in the first place! Damn it! Damn it all to hell!"_

"Well, my friends...I am sorry to inform you that this is indeed not a dream. It may seem nightmarish, but that's the reality of seeing your mortal enemy before your eyes again. This is all real. This is all true. To go back to your earlier questions, Tommy...I knew where to find you because when I was doing my nightly scan of Angel Grove to see if there was any power source that related to ex-Rangers or anything of the sort, the readings I got back tonight were absolutly off the charts. So upon further investigation, I did the mathematics and figured out that today was your high school reunion and anniversary as being the protectors of Earth. It was nice to see you all together again after so many years of being apart. But sadly, that all changed in a matter of moments. I had been detecting unusual bio-rythyms coming from, of all places, the Moon, but whenever I tried to get a lock on them, they suddenly disappeared, as if they knew I was trying to lock onto them. I tried my best to keep as many tabs on it as possible, but it was like trying to find the proverbial needle in the haystack. Only tonight was I able to get a distinctive reading on it, but by then, Zedd and his forces had already burned a giant hole in the side of your auditorium and reverted back to his old ways. I did not have prior warning about their attack other than the information I just provided you with. What you all just saw and felt was indeed the real deal. I am sorry, my friends. But Lord Zedd...and his army...is indeed back."

The weight of the words Alpha just spoke to them crashed down on all six of them like an anvil being dropped from a ten story high building. All of their worst fears had come into the light and were proven to be real. Silence was golden as the gang looked around at each other with looks of uncertainty plastered all over their faces, while Kimberly finally looked up and had the same look on her face as well, albeit her face was damp with her own tears and her make-up and mascara was running, giving her the look of someone who had been running in the rain for far too long. Alpha let them all wallow in their silence as he turned around and began to shuffle his way back towards the door he originally came out from. As he did so, he ducked out of sight, and the former Rangers finally found their voices, some of them in disbelief, some of them none too pleased...but they were all scared. And it showed on their faces and in their voices.

"Can you...uh, can you believe that?", was the first thing that Adam said as he took out his cell phone to see if Tanya had called him or sent him a text about her whereabouts or her condition, but nothing. He tried calling her but saw that he got no reception whatsoever, so he threw his arms up in defeat as he tucked his phone away.

"No. No, I don't believe it. I don't believe one bit of it. It has to be some sort of joke. All of this, it's gotta be just one sick ploy to fuck with our heads since we're all in the same place for our reunion and anniversary. That's what this all is...a goddamn joke...", Billy said as he stood upright, the nausia seemingly gone from his body as he shook his head in denial.

"This is so messed up, guys", Aisha began as she still held onto Kimberly, who by now had finally stopped sobbing, but looked like she couldn't talk at all. "How do we know that he...er, Alpha is telling the truth? How do we even know that that's Alpha? For all we know, that could be an impostor or something like that! Billy could be right! This could all just be a big, sick joke!", she exclaimed as she stroked the side of Kim's face and rested her chin on the top of Kim's head, being the rock she always was for her former best friend.

"I don't know, you guys. That all seemed pretty damn real to me, seeing Zedd, Goldar and Rito like that. Not to mention the Putties and Tengas coming up from...from the floor like that. And Zedd's laugh...it sent chills up my spine like never before. If this is a joke, this has got to be the most elaborate joke that has ever been concieved..", Rocky said as his words trailed off, his eyes looking up at the ceiling while he let out a deep sigh.

"I saw this coming."

Everyone looked at Tommy, who, until just now, had kept quiet the entire time, sans for his few questions earlier. All of them gave him puzzled looks, trying to understand his cryptic words, but unable to grasp them. Did he know something that they didn't?

"What'd you just say, Tommy?", Billy asked sternly as his eyes remained fixed on Tommy, while he stared down at the floor, not making eye contact with any of them. The phone call from Terry, the recording of the laugh, not to mention recurring nightmares that he'd been having were enough justification for Tommy to say that.

"I said, I saw this coming."

"Yeah, and what makes you say that?", Aisha asked bluntly as she stood up and helped guide Kimberly to her feet as well.

"The fact that I had gotten a phone call from my contact in NASA, Terry Ortega, telling me of unusual and suspicious behavior on the Moon's surface. Not to mention the fact that world renouned scientist Ed Tillman has gone missing, his house ransacked and destroyed. It was all over the local papers. I myself, didn't believe it at first, but when I did the math and Rocko here played an old voice recording of Zedd's cackle, I knew something was wrong. Sure, I didn't act like it, but deep down, I knew. It also doesn't help that I've been having on and off nightmares about this very thing happening again. One night it would be Rita, the next it'd be Zedd, hell, I even had some visions where Ooze, Mondo, Machina, Gasket, Divatox or Mesogog would come back as well. But it was mostly either Zedd or Rita, and for the longest time I was fearing that one of them might come back into our lives. Tonight confirmed those fears."

"You didn't tell me or Jason about any of this!? What the fuck, dude? We live together! We run a dojo together! You and me, we helped Jason put this together! Why the hell didn't you let one of us know about these? We would of helped!", Rocky near-screamed, the anger evident in his voice as he looked like he was ready to strangle Tommy for not saying anything sooner.

"I didn't tell you or Jase because I didn't want to burden you with what I thought were silly nightmares. I didn't know how you'd react if I said anything. I know now how you'd of reacted. And most importantly, I didn't want you two getting hysterical and suggest that I force my students...my own Rangers...to use their powers and go back into action. They're like my children. And I would never, **EVER** force them to go through hell again", Tommy said fiercly as Rocky went to protest, but was shot a firm look from Adam and Billy, their eyes telling him to not say a word. But then something clicked inside of Tommy's head.

"Oh my god...Jason! The rest of them! Holy shit, I have to know if they're alright!"

Immidiately, Tommy hurridly walked towards the viewing globe, smacking it, twisting it, turning it, doing whatever he could to try and get a better reception, as if the viewing globe was an old television set. Aisha, Rocky, Billy and Adam followed suit, while, not surprisingly, Kim stayed behind, her face buried in her hands as she was still reeling from this topsy-turvy, emotional ride. After smacking it a few more times, Billy stepped forward and began to work his magic, inspecting the globe to see if a better picture could be found on a different frequency. As Billy did that and Rocky, Adam, and Aisha watched him anxiously, Tommy slipped out from the crowd and turned back towards the circle of panels, where straight ahead, Kimberly was leaning up against one, right in front of the empty tube, which served as an ominious guardian of sorts. Tommy stepped forward, his eyes fixated on her as he watched her languish in sadness. Soon, he found himself mere feet from her as she still didn't look up, not noticing that her former teammate and lover was right in front of her. He cleared his throat loud enough to get her attention, and her head rose from her hands and soon met the gaze of his hazel eyes. She quickly closed hers and turned the other way, a hurt expression on Tommy's face as he attempted to move closer to her, but she immidiately waved him off as she struggled to find the strength to speak to the man she let go after not speaking to him for so many years.

"Hey", was all Tommy could manage at this point, his hands in his pockets as he sadly looked at the girl he still harbored feelings for. It broke his heart to see her like this, and he wanted nothing more for her to let him back in and let him help her, let him be there for her. But he knew it would probably never be the same between them, no matter how much he wanted it to be. Life works in cruel ways like that.

"So I take it that it was you under the hat and in the jacket?", Kim said solemnly, remembering the mysterious figure from the reunion that she had danced with.

"Look, Kimberly, all I wanted to do was--"

"Find a way to get close to me without actually being yourself? That's some new grounds for you, Tommy. _I'm impressed_."

Her words were dripping with sarcasm and the faintest hint of sadness, almost like she didn't want to say them. Tommy felt as if he had just gotten punched in the gut a few times, the wind taken completely out of his sails. But, he reasoned with himself, at least she was talking to him. That had to count for something.

"Kim, all I wanted to do was to speak with you, okay? That's all I've wanted for the past eleven years is to speak with you! **Eleven years**, Kim! I'm not here to play games, I'm not here to beg you to take me back, and I'm not here to tell you that...", Tommy said, stopping himself from revealing the feelings he had for Kimberly all along; that he still loved her. She turned back to face him, intrigue in her eyes and confusement on her face. He had piqued her interest.

"You're not here to tell me what, Tommy?", she said, hoping that he'd say what she thought he would say, while at the same time fearing for her life if he said it. Tommy choked on his words, trying to get them out, but found himself not being able to do so.

"I'm not here to tell you about how miserable I've been, how you broke my heart and nearly ruined my life with that damn letter. I'm over all of it", Tommy said flatly as Kim appeared to be glad and deflated all at once with his answer. Part of her didn't want to let him back into her life after being out of it for so long. But part of her still clung to the hope that what they once had could be rekindled.

"Thanks for saving me the pity party. Lord knows I've been through enough of _those _tonight", Kim muttered as she began looking for a napkin or a towel to dry her face off and make her look less frightening, at least in her eyes. "Ugh, no wonder why this place isn't nearly as good for having emotional breakdowns like home is. At least back home I'd be making myself look decent again!", she whined as she crossed her arms and pouted, a soft smile creeping across Tommy's lips as he remembered when she would throw these mini temper tantrums when they were still together. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a napkin, extending his hand forward. She saw this and, after hesitating for a brief moment, took the napkin out of his hand and began to clean herself up a bit. Even after all these years, he still looked out and cared for her. Her heart, if it wasn't already broken by tonight's events, was breaking even more after this small, but kind gesture on Tommy's behalf.

"Thanks. You didn't need to do that."

"I had a spare one on me. Figured you'd need it more than I would."

"With the way I look and feel, I would certaintly hope so."

"Heh, yeah. It hasn't been easy for any of us. But we'll be fine. We always pulled through when we were a team. We'll pull through again."

"I can only pray that we do..."

"We will, Kimberly."

"Tommy..."

"Yes?"

Kim finished wiping away the streaks of tears from her face and looked a little better, throwing the napkin over her shoulder and fixing her hair so that it didn't look like a complete mess. She then looked Tommy in the eyes and smiled, waving him over, inviting him to sit next to her. Tommy looked surprised to see this as he took the few steps forward and sat down next to her. She even surprised herself by doing this, but it was too late to push him away like she had done so many times before.

"How are you? Jason told me a lot about how far the school you, him and Rocky own has come. He also mentioned something about you becoming..."

"A Power Ranger again? Yeah. It's true. I was the Black Dino Ranger, along with my four students. After that phase came and went though, I re-assesed my life and decided that while teaching was fun, I just didn't want to do it anymore. So I decided to join up with those two and now the three of us run the dojo."

"Black, huh? Just couldn't wait to add one more color to your collection, could you?", Kim joked as his chest of colors had already included green, white and red.

"Hey, say what you want, but black suited me well. A lot more than red did, at least."

"Still have an affection for the colors white and green, don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess so. But I could say the same about you and pink."

"Well, fortunatly, that was, and still is, the only color for me. I don't know what I'd have done if I ever had to switch colors. I'd probably have thrown a fit."

The fact that this conversation was even happening because of the fucked up events that had occurred was not lost on Tommy. This is what he wanted, what he pined for for eleven years. Were the circumstances that caused it to be perfect? Definatly not. But at least they were talking. And that's all that mattered to Tommy as he continued on.

"That sounds like the Kimberly Hart I used to know. Throw a fit over something until you got your way. Don't think I've forgotten how stubborn you were, Ms. Hart."

"You're one to talk, Mr. Oliver. Don't tell me you didn't whine like a baby when you told me how much you hated changing over from white to red. I remember how much you complained to me over the phone."

"That's because I was being serious. Red was never my color. It was always either Jase's or Rocko's. Believe me, I'd of given everything to switch back to white during that time of my life. It was just...natural to me."

"Tommy..."

"Yes...Beautiful?"

Tommy's eyes widened with fear as he realized what he had just said. Kimberly quickly turned her head and looked a tad bit mortified to hear him say that to her, no matter how happy it made her feel inside to hear him call her that again. Tommy promptly smacked himself on the forehead while Kim nervously giggled, trying to dismiss it as a simple brain fart on his part, but secretly hoping he had meant to call her that.

"Listen, uh, I'm sorry I said that, it completley slipped, and uh..."

"Oh, it's fine, I understand, it was a roll of the tounge and yeah, well..."

Both of them stopped speaking upon hearing the door open behind them. Emerging from the darkened room was Alpha with a small bag in his hands as he padded his way across the aisleway towards the group, who had all re-assembled in the center of the room, watching his every movement carefully as he stopped a few feet away from them, the bag still in his hand.

"What were you doing in there, Alpha?", questioned Rocky as the rest of them nodded their heads in agreement, wondering just what the little robot was up to while he departed.

"It took me forever to find them, but I finally did", he said, using his free hand to point to the bag in his other one. All six of them curiously eyed the bag, imagining what it's contents could be.

"Find what?", asked Billy.

Alpha sighed and began to unravel the tie that was holding the bag together. It was now or never.

"Friends...what I am about to ask of you all is quite possibly the single biggest question that you will ever hear in your entire lives..."

As the bag began to come undone, a small glimmer of gold light peeked through the opening. The six former Rangers eyes widened as the contents of the bag became known. It couldn't be. There was no way. They were all destroyed. But yet...the question was asked...and their lives would be drastically changed forever...again.

"Are you ready?"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

The auditorium, or what was left of it, was slowly starting to crumble, the attacks that had been done to it's structure were causing it to bend, break, basically fall apart nearly as everyone either cowered in fear or tried their best to outrun the Putty Patrollers and Tenga Warriors that seemingly spawned from the depths of Hell. Nobody dared to try and run out of the decaying building as long as those horrible creatures were still around, keeping guard so that everyone would suffer and possibly die. That thought right there caused shivers to go up Jason's spine. Zedd never intentionally tried to kill anyone when he first came back. Perhaps this was another person taking the throne? Could Zedd have produced a son? Many questions raced through his head as he, Zack, Trini, Tanya and Kat were huddled up in the farthest corner, out of sight of the Putties and Tengas as they roamed the room to make sure that nobody dared escaping. What had started out as a great night for all of them quickly turned into a living nightmare.

"What the shit are we gonna do?", Zack whispered to nobody in particular as he curled himself up into a ball, his back against the wall as he put his head down on his knees.

"I don't know man, I don't know. We're trapped here, and unless we can think of something or God himself decides to lend us a hand in getting the hell out of here, we're all screwed. Man what I wouldn't give to be in possession of the Golden Power Staff right about now!", he softly exclaimed as Katherine turned her head and gave her fiance a puzzled look. He looked her straight in the eyes and then said, "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Golden Power Staff, huh? I thought you were the one that had the mad on for red. Why the Golden Power Staff all of a sudden?", she asked simply, still confused with his answer.

"That kind of just came out, actually. Usually, I'm wishing for my old Power Sword...but man, when I was the Gold Ranger...I felt like I had the power of the entire universe at my disposal", he stated, fondly remembering his time spent wielding those powers.

"Are you sure that just wasn't your _ego_ talking?", Tanya whispered as Trini, Zack and Katherine all laughed in hushed tones as Zack's eyes went from looking at Trini's face to what was behind her. His eyes widened with the slightest hint of joy as he tappped Jason on the shoulder to get his attention, hoping that he would catch on immidiatley.

"Hey Jase, do you see what I see?", Zack said hurridly as the tapping on Jason's shoulder became more rapid and annoying, Jason finally turning his head to see what the hell Zack was so damn excited about. When his eyes fell onto the object that Zack was pointing at, he too hatched a big ol' smile on his face as he inched towards it to get a better look.

"Are **you** thinking what **I'm** thinking?", Jason asked.

"What are you guys doing?", asked a concerned Trini, startling both men, as she had been silent the entire time since Tommy and the rest of them disappeared and the goons started taking control of everything. If there was one person who knew Jason and Zack better than they knew themselves, it was her. And she could sense what they were thinking. She didn't like it one bit.

"Why do you ask?", Zack said as nonchalontly as possible, trying his best to avoid eye contact with Trini, but failing miserably.

"If you guys are thinking of using that brick as a distraction to get our hides out of here, you're both dumber than I originally thought you were!", she said sternly as Jason tried to protest but found himself with Katherine's hand in his face. It was obvious who's side she was taking on this little affair. Tanya looked at the two men and shook her head in disbelief. That made three against two. Not that Jason and Zack cared. They were used to being outnumbered.

"Listen here guys. Do you wanna let the building collapse on all of these innocent civilians and watch them die while we argue and sit on our hands, not doing anything about it? I know that me and Jase here aren't! Just because the power doesn't protect us anymore, doesn't mean we can't do what we were chosen to do all those years ago by Zordon and Alpha! We'll always be Power Rangers in spirit, and that's all the reassurance we need to make sure that we save ourselves and most importantly, save the innocents here!"

Jason sat there, his arms folded across his big, muscular chest, nodding his head approvingly while the three females sat in silence, Zack's words hitting them hard and hitting them fast, like a blow to the chest or the aftershock of an explosion going off right in front of them. As the thought of the weight those words carried, they all remembered the sacred bond they all shared as being one of Zordon's Rangers. While the girls thought about what he had just said, Zack grabbed the item in question, which turned out to be a rather large brick that had flown all over the place, much like the other bricks that were strewn across the floor from the crater that Zedd had created when he first reappeared. The three females thought back to times when they thought they were going to give up the power; Trini when she tried (and eventually did) overcome her fear of heights when rescuing Billy from certain doom; Katherine, when Numbor had used her poor self esteem to make her feel light as a feather (before she realized that inner beauty is more important); and Tanya, when she was offered the recording deal by the big time record company (which she turned down in order to stay behind and continue being a Ranger). Right then and there, the girls looked at each other and nodded their heads, before looking at the men before him and giving them their answers.

"I'm in", Trini said simply, a grin on her face.

"Let's do this thing", Tanya said with a big smile.

"What did you two have in mind?", Katherine asked, always the cautious one.

"Alright, what me and Zack-Man here had in mind was one of the simplest ways of tricking someone...even something as dumb as those clay-heads and bird-brains. A kid could do this", Jason said lightly as he looked around to make sure nobody was listening in on this conversation."It's rather simple...Zack's gonna go hide behind that large piece of the wall, and when he's fully hidden, I'll look in the direction of the opening and scream at Zack to book it, and thus the Putties and Tengas will look in the direction that I'm yelling. When they've got their backs turned, I'll smash one of them in the back of the head with the brick, and then we'll go into full attack mode from there. We've taken them before, we can take them again. Once we've got a good portion of them down for the count, we'll begin to evacuate this place and get all these people to safety. And then we'll just run. Run as far as we can. Hopefully I'll be able to get a hold of Tommy or one of them and we can meet up. After that, I don't know what we'll do, we'll just have to play the cards we've all been dealt", Jason said as calmly as he possibly could have. Though the plan had worked for them when they actually had the power in their possession, now was a whole different ballgame. Jason hadn't had the power ever since he personally deactivated his old morpher after Operation Forever Red on the Moon, and Zack, Trini, Kat and Tanya hadn't had the power in over a decade. He began to wonder if this was such a good idea, but the fierce leader inside of him wouldn't let those doubts rise to the surface. They were pushed down and he knew that he was doing the right thing. But before he could even give Zack the cue to go hide, he saw that Zack was already hiding behind the giant slab of the wall. He had to give Zack credit where credit was due, he was still as fast as lightning, even after all these years. He looked at Katherine and he could feel the love in her motions and sense it in her eyes. He sensed the trust and faith in Tanya's and Trini's eyes as well.

It was time.

**"GO ZACK, RUN!"**

The Putties and Tengas turned their ugly mugs in the direction of Jason's voice, only to find that nobody was running away. As they stood there, confused and scratching their heads, Jason stood up and slowly began to creep up behind one of them, hoping that he wouldn't be heard as he carried the brick in his hand, chomping at the bit to smash it across the back of that vile creature's head. But just when he was in range to lunge forward and initiate the attack, he stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes wide with fear as the sound filtered through the air, the Putties and Tengas turning around to face their would-be attacker. The ringing noise told Jason that it was Kimberly's daughter, Neveah, calling him, probably to see how her mother and her "Uncle Jay" were doing, being that she was cooped up in her hotel room all by herself. As the Putties and Tengas eyed him menacingly, Jason could tell that they were sizing him up for the kill. His heart was beating rapidly, like it wanted to explode out of his chest. He didn't look back at the rest of the group, but he could just knew that the horror of the situation was not lost on them. What happened next was a blur, but Jason knew that it was the only way to salvage everyone's lives. Grunting his kiya, he raised the brick above his head and brought it down upon the nearest Putty's head, knocking it senseless as he then thrusted his fist downward onto the 'Z' on it's chest, causing it to shatter into a million pieces. One down, god knows how many more to go.

"Alright, let's go! Move it! We've got to do this **now**!", Jason roared as he turned back to face his friends, who by now were all on their feet as they ran to the civilians and told them to start running for safety, to get out of the building before the inevitable happened. Jason ducked under the fist of a Putty, taking it down with a leg sweep before hitting the Z and destroying it. Left and right, the people in the burning auditorium ran for the giant, crater-sized hole in the size of the building and fled for safety, with Kat, Trini and Tanya directing them outside, while Jason and Zack battled with the Putties and Tengas, albeit with great difficulty. It had been far too long since either man had been forced to use their martial arts skills.

"Augh, I hate birds! **I hate them!** How the hell do we get rid of them, Jase!?", Zack screamed as he parried an attack from a Tenga and flipped over it's head, kicking it in the back and sending flying into a group of it's own as Zack wiped some sweat from his forehead before hitting a spin kick that knocked a Putty down, before he rammed his fist into it's Z, destroying it before he was confronted with a group of them.

"It's been too fucking long man! Just try to hold them at bay while the civilians escape!", Jason shouted back as he grabbed a Tenga by the wrist, twisted it, and then flipped it onto it's back as he saw the last of the civilians escape. By now, the Putties and Tengas had advanced on Kat, Trini and Tanya, and the three girls were holding their own, but he knew that it was time for them to book it as well.

"Alright, we gotta go! Come on Zack, forget them, we can outrun them if we get out in the open!", Jason yelled as he waved for the girls to come to where he was, while Zack was sent spinning out of control in their direction. After helping him to his feet, the five of them quickly saw that they were slowly being surrounded by the beasts, their eyes darting back and forth as the Putties and Tengas closed in on them. Seeing a small opening, the five of them burst through and began to run for their lives, running hard and fast into downtown Angel Grove, near the park, where hopefully they'd be able to lose them and get an idea on where Tommy and the rest of them disappeared to. But before they began their sprint towards the park, Jason stopped himself and hid behind a tree, telling the others to go ahead of him that he'd catch up eventually. Pulling out his cellphone, he began texting a message, hastily mashing the buttons on his phone before sending it and beginning his run towards the park himself. As he ran, his heart racing and the blood fiercly pumping through his veins, one thought crossed his mind as he ran and never turned back.

_"Tommy's going to want to kill me for this..."_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Hayley's Cyberspace Cafe was closed for the night, but you wouldn't be able to tell judging from the four teenagers sitting down around the television set, watching a late night horror slasher flick while Hayley herself brought out a few empty boxes, tapping her foot on the floor and her hand on the counter in an attempt to get the kids attention, to no avail. Sighing loudly in mild disappointment, she cleared her throat, and after the third time, only did the kids turn around to face her.

"Hey Hayley, what's up?", asked Conner as if the empty boxes on the counter of the bar weren't enough of a clue as to what they were supposed to be doing.

"Oh, you know, just standing here, waiting for these boxes to grow legs and throw themselves in the dumpster while you guys watch your movie and I do all the work you're supposed to be helping me with", she said sarcastically as Conner lowered his head, feeling guilty for sitting down on the job.

"We're sorry Hayley, we've just been bored out of our...", Ethan went to say, but stopped when he saw the stern look on Hayley's face to see what she wasn't joking. There was a lot of stuff in kitchen that needed to be stocked and the front of the house also had to look presentable tomorrow as Hayley was planning on having Tommy and the other original Power Rangers over for a party in honor of their anniversary. And from the look of it, it appeared that it a snail could do a better job than the kids as they were still huddled around the television. "I mean, er, we'll be right there to help out! No sirree, we aren't bored, we're glad we're here to help you out and prepare for the party tomorrow!"

"Nice save, Ethan", Trent muttered under his breath as he took his arm that was wrapped around Kira's shoulder and put it up to defend himself from Ethan's playful shove as they got to their feet to stretch their bodies.

"Hayley's right though, you guys. I mean, we have some serious work to do here if we want to impress the original Power Rangers", Kira reasoned as she herself stood up and went to go turn the television off, but was stopped by Conner, who was entranced in the movie. "Conner, seriously, we have to get back to work."

"Yeah yeah, I'll be right there after the commercial comes up, then I promise I'll get back to work", Conner said as he kept his eyes glued to the television set.

"Ugh, you never fail to amaze me, Conner", Kira said, rolling her eyes and throwing her hands up in defeat as she turned around to help Hayley throw the boxes in the dumpster while Ethan and Trent began to maneuver the chairs and tables to make sure there was adequate space for everyone tomorrow. The two boys began to make conversation about it while Conner was still sitting down, the movie having taken over his brain it seemed.

"Man, tomorrow's gonna be so sick! I thought meeting Jason and Rocky was cool, I can't wait to meet the original Blue Ranger! I think Dr. O said his name was Billy, but from what he told me, he's as big a computer freak as I am! That's gonna be so awesome!", Ethan excitedly exclaimed as he moved a few chairs to the side to set up a table while Trent chuckled.

"Don't pop a vein there buddy, the time will come soon enough. But yeah, I really want to meet Adam, I think his name was, the second Black Ranger and second Green Ranger after Dr. O. Dr. O had nothing but nice things to say about him when I asked", Trent commented as he set up a folding chair and tucked it in near the table he and Ethan set up. Kira and Hayley re-entered, only to see Ethan and Trent doing the work while Conner still had his butt firmly planted on the couch.

**"Conner McKnight!",** Hayley said loudly as Conner snapped out of his stupor and turned to face her. "What are you doing!? Get back to work, mister!"

"I said that I would after the commercial!", he whined as he didn't feel like getting up and doing any work. Why put off today what you could do tomorrow was his thought process about the entire thing. "And besides, I don't know why we need to do the majority of the work tonight anyways! They're all not expected to be here until at least two in the afternoon tomorrow!"

"Conner, just stop being so damn lazy and help out a little. It won't kill ya, alright? It's not like we're asking you to fight Mesogog, Zeltrax and Elsa all by yourself!", Kira shot back as Conner rolled his eyes and sighed in defeat, getting up off the couch and bringing an empty bowl that once was filled with popcorn with him and placing it on the counter, before going to help Ethan and Trent. "So, what were you two talking about when we came in?"

"Oh, we were talking about what original Ranger we want to meet the most", Ethan said plainly. "I said I wanted to meet the original Blue Ranger, Billy, and Trent here said he wanted to meet the second Black Ranger, Adam. Who do you wanna meet the most?"

"Well...I know she didn't wear my color and all...but I'd really love to meet Kimberly. Dr. O, Jason and Rocky have gushed on about her, saying how much of a great girl she is, so I really want to see if they were right. And plus, she had the pterodactyl as a Zord and she plays guitar. We have that much in common", Kira said shyly as she put a covering over the table while Trent, Conner and Ethan snickered. "What? Why're you three laughing? So what if I want to meet the original Pink Ranger the most!"

"It's not that, Kira, believe me. It's just, maybe Dr. O was right about comparing you to her. And I totally knew you were gonna say that", Trent said as he winked at her, Kira's face flushed red now as she turned away, knowing that the guys would continue to laugh if she let them see her like this.

"So Hayley, what about you? Who do you wanna meet the most out of the original Power Rangers?", asked Conner as he super-sped to the other side of the building to grab a chair before speeding back to where he was mere seconds ago, setting it up.

"To be honest, Tommy's said that they're all incredibly nice people, so I have no real preference. I'd like to meet them all", she said simply as she took out some balloons and streamers to hang on the walls and ceiling, while the kids would blow up the balloons. But just then, as he was moving a table, something on the still-running television caught Conner's eye. It was a live chopper shot of a fire, but he didn't pay any attention at first. But when the words _"ANGEL GROVE UNDER ATTACK",_ he was suckered in. Dropping everything he was doing (literally), he walked back to the television and proceeded to turn the volume up so that he could hear the report better.

"Conner, would you leave the television alone!?", Kira yelled, but he waved her off, shushing her as he continued to listen to the reporter's talk.

_"Massive fires...high school reunion wrecked...multiple casulties...strange creatures...auditorium nearly destroyed...on the run..."_

"Oh no...", was all Conner could manage as Trent began to pick up on it as well.

"Dude, turn the volume up! Did you guys just hear what I heard?", he called out as Kira and Ethan's interest were now on what the report was saying.

_"Unknown assailants...supernatural forces..."_

"Did he just say supernatural forces?", Ethan said, a worried look on his face as the headline once again scrolled across the screen.

_"ANGEL GROVE UNDER ATTACK"_

"Under attack!? From what?!", Kira said as she put her hands over her mouth, scared for what that could possibly mean. Just then, Hayley's phone began to vibrate as the kids still had their attention on the television, fearing the worst, considering the report said that the Angel Grove High School Auditorium was the center of these attacks and that's where Dr. O and the rest of the original Power Rangers were having their high school reunion. Behind them, Hayley let out a shriek as she dropped her phone on the floor, the kids turning around to see what might have caused her to react in such a manner.

"Hayley, are you alright? What happened? Why'd you drop your phone?", asked Conner in rapid fire succession as Hayley bent down to pick up her phone off the ground.

"That's...why", she said, something scaring her nearly to death as she held out her phone for all to read. Conner grabbed the phone and began to read the text message she recieved...from one Jason Lee Scott.

_"Hayley -- it's Jason. Don't have much time, but here goes. Auditorium was attacked. Putties, Tengas everywhere. Me, Zack, Trini, Kat and Tanya fled. Lives were lost. Building in flames. Barely got out. On the run now. In short...Lord Zedd is back. We need help. FAST!! Send the kids. We need them real bad. I'm sorry. JLS"_

To say that the kids and Hayley were shocked, stunned, scared and fearing for their mentor's friends lives would be an understatement. Nobody said a word as Conner handed Hayley her phone back, his jaw dropped as he stared down at his feet. Kira had her hands covering her entire face now, the fear overcoming her as she tried her best not to break down crying. Trent, trying to be a good would-be boyfriend, put his arm around Kira and pulled her into a hug, his face wrought with disbelief. And Ethan had his hand on his forehead as he took a deep breath and loudly gulped, closing his eyes and shaking his head. After much moments of awkward silence, Conner found his voice and softly spoke up.

"You realize...that we need...to go there...and help them...right?"

Trent, Kira and Ethan looked him straight in the eye and gave him a look like he had four heads. They couldn't believe what he just said.

"Are you serious?", Ethan whispered. "We don't know how to combat those things. We'll die out there."

"Ethan's...Ethan's right, Conner. Mesogog is one thing, but Lord Zedd? Dr. O said he was...well, now is again, I guess, the dark lord of all evil. How can we help them?", Trent said softly as he let Kira go and bit his lip in pure fright.

"What help are we if we don't know what we're doing?", Kira said timidly as she brushed away some of her hair and tried to get a grip of the situation.

"It doesn't matter if we don't know what we're doing or if we've never combated Putty Patrollers or Tenga Warriors. Dr. O's best friend and the rest of the original Rangers need us, need our help. We still have our Dino Gems. We still have the ability to morph and take care of evil. We need to go out there and save them before they all die", Conner said in his best leader voice. While he was dreading this as well, if there was one thing that Dr. O had taught him, it was about looking out for your friends and fellow Power Rangers. And he was not about to let the original Red Ranger die while he sat around and did nothing.

"Conner's right, you guys", said Hayley, earning her questionable and confused looks from the other three as Conner smiled, glad to hear Hayley agree with him on something for once. "They need you. Think of that for a second. The original Power Rangers...need your help. And only your help. What do you think Tommy would say at a time like this?"

"He'd...he'd want us to fight...", Trent said, a defeated look on his face as he did so.

"Exactly. He'd want you to go out there and protect the world. I'm not gonna let you guys get away without doing it. They need you, and you know it. I will do what I can from here. I'll try to see if I can log into Tommy's files about his Ranger history, to see how you can defeat these Putties and Tengas. Until then, hold them at bay and buy them some time. Go. Angel Grove needs a set of heroes. And I'm looking at four of them right now."

Hayley's words ringing true, Trent, Ethan and Kira nodded their heads as their Dino Morphers suddenly appeared on their wrists, ready to be used again.

"I never thought that this would happen again", Ethan said as he shook his head and prepped himself for the rush of energy he was about to feel flow through his body once more.

"You're telling me", Kira muttered incoherently under her breath as she did the same.

"Are you guys ready?", Conner said fiercly. The three of them, while nervous at the prospect of facing off against the unknown, nodded their heads approvingly, while Conner locked eyes with Hayley. She smiled weakly and nodded her head too. Conner did the same as he stepped forward and mouthed _"Thank you"_ to her. It was time.

**"DINO THUNDER, POWER UP!"**

**"WHITE RANGER, DINO POWER!"**

And with that, in four streaking lights of red, blue, yellow and white, the Dino Rangers were back in business and headed to Angel Grove. As Hayley watched them fly through the skies, one thought came to her head as she grabbed a computer and feverishly began to see if she could access Tommy's files.

_"Godspeed, kids. Godspeed."_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

By the time the four multi-colored streaks of light appeared at the building that once resembled Angel Grove High School's auditorium, the police, fire squad and paramedics had the fire's nearly out, civilians giving their stories on what happened...and for the first time in forever, body bags were deployed to cart away the charred, destroyed remains of innocent civilians. As the scene was being taken care of, the Dino Rangers landed smack dab in the middle of stretchers carting off the recently deceased to the back of the ambulances. A few of the fire fighters and cops noticed them land as they surveyed the surroundings, and to say that what they saw before them was disturbingly shocking would be an understatement.

"Oh god...", Kira said behind her helmet, her breath taken away at the horrible acts committed by Lord Zedd as she put her gloved hand to her mouth piece, words hard to come by at this rate.

"I never thought that Lord Zedd could be capable of such disgusting acts", said Ethan, remembering what Dr. O had told them about Zedd. Zedd was always a highly dangerous, incredibly horrifying creature, but never did he kill anyone. Until now.

"This is just too surreal. I mean, look at that hole! Look at all these bodies! How could he do such an unspeakable act?", asked Trent to himself, saying it aloud as another row of body bags made their way past the four of them, headed for the morgue downtown.

"Simple. He doesn't care. He doesn't feel compassion. He only feels anger, hate, and utter destruction. From the looks of it, he was trying to kill the original Rangers. No way this attack was intended for anyone but them. But any casulties is good news for him. He's the bringer of death, if there ever was one", Conner said tensly, his own body begining to tense up with every chilling word spoken. Before long, two men walked towards the four teenagers, one an officer, the other a fire fighter. The police officer was a somewhat portly fellow as he made his way over, with the fire fighter being lean and as thin as a stick. The two were conversing, constantly stealing looks at the Dino Rangers as if they would disappear any moment. As they approached, Conner took the initiative to ask them about the prior events.

"Uh, hello officer, hello sir", Conner said as he extended his hand to shake their hands. "Any idea as to what happened out here? We got a distress call from our leader to travel here and see what the commotion was. Anything you can help us out with?"

"First off, I just want to say that we were around when the first Power Rangers started protecting Angel Grove many, many years ago, and we respect, admire and love the Power Rangers. It's good to see that Ranger teams are still around doing what the original Rangers set out to do nearly two decades ago. Anyways, enough with my rambling, I'm Captain Bulkmeier, I supervise the precinct of Angel Grove. But if you'd like, you're more than welcome to call me Bulk", the officer said as the Dino Rangers gasped behind their helmets. They remembered Rocky and Jason telling them about two bullies turned police officers from their teenaged days, and they could only assume that this was indeed them standing in front of them.

"And you are?", Conner said to the firefighter, who was looking back as his team finally succeeded in dousing the flames completely.

"My name is Eugene Skullovitch, I'm the head of the Angel Grove Fire Department. But like my buddy here, you can call me Skull if you'd like", he said with a hint of sadness as he watched another body bag be carted by. The Dino Rangers had goofy grins underneath their helmets, and for good reason. _"Jason, Rocky and Dr. O were right about these two; they sure have cleaned themselves up",_ Kira thought to herself as she shook both men's hands.

"From the sound of you four gasping upon us introducing ourselves, I take it that you've somehow heard of us before?", Bulk asked inquisitvely with a genuine smile on his face as he quickly turned to bark out orders to an officer before turning to face the Dino Rangers.

"Uh yeah, I guess you could say that", Trent said breathlessly. "Our mentor, him and his friends told us about a Bulk and Skull, how they constantly bullied them in high school before they joined the Angel Grove Junior Police Force and turned themselves around. They were right. You two seem nothing like the bullies our mentor and his friends fondly told us about."

"Oh boy, those were the days, eh Bulkie?", Skull said with a smile on his face as he patted his best friend on the shoulder, chuckling at the remberance of their high school days. They surely had come a long way from then. After the Space Rangers conquest in saving Earth and going to the planet Mirinoi to study it with Professor Phenomenous, Bulk returned to the police force and, through the years, slowly made his way to where he is now, earning the captain rank last year for all of his hard work and dedication to the force. Skull, on the other hand, had been left behind as Terra Venture departed for Mirinoi, and thus decided to go to college to get his bachelors degree in dramatic arts, of all subjects. After graduating, he decided to follow a lifelong dream of being a fire fighter and went to work on that, finally getting to the head of the AGFD two years ago.

Not only that, but the two of them decided that, having saved up enough money over the years, decided to venture into the hospitality business, breaking ground on a series of motels named after their friend and father-figure, the late Professor Phenomenus, approprietly naming the motels, "Phenomenus Motels." The first one was built and placed in, where else, Angel Grove, while two others were currently in the process of being built and furnished in San Francisco and Los Angelas, with the possibility of expanding further across California. The two former bullies had indeed come a long way.

"Yeah Skull, I remember those days, walking into Ernie's and causing trouble with Jason, Kim and all of them. Those were indeed the days. Anyways, you mentioned a mentor and friends of his that said they know us. Who were they?", Bulk asked, intrigue in his tone of voice as he kicked aside a rock and studied the Dino Rangers helmets.

"Oh, you uhm, you don't really know them, they just remember going to school with you two and talking about how you two were the big bullies of the school, that's all", Ethan managed to stutter out while doing whatever he could to not tell them that Dr. O was their mentor and Jason and Rocky were the friends in question. "They really liked how you turned yourselves around, though", he added as an exclamation point of sorts as Conner nudged his shoulder, giving him a serious look through his helmet. Though he couldn't see it, Ethan knew that Conner was glaring at him and decided to stop all together.

"Hmm. Always good to know that people gave us a second chance and saw how we turned out, eh Skull?", Bulk said as he nodded his head approvingly, his hand on his chin as he thought about what was going on around him at the moment. "But yes, I don't want to distract you from your jobs, and I'm sure Skull doesn't either", he suddenly said in a serious tone as Skull nodded his head. "We don't really know what exactly happened here. I was alerted to the disturbance about an hour ago, there were several 911 calls placed to the station from people who witnessed it and neighboring houses who heard explosions", he explained as he motioned with his head to the carnage behind him, as a few of his officers were interrogating those who survived but were injured in the attacks. "And I was alerted at the fire department about twenty minutes after Bulk here was, the only thing we were going on was that there were possible civilians stuck in the smoldering mess and that there was a massive case of arson. Other than that, we can't really give you any other information to go on than what we have."

The Dino Rangers thought the situation over as they gazed at the clusterfuck of bodies, ash, brick and resque squad vehicles. From what Dr. O had told them about Zedd, he was never one for mass murdering and the theatrics of blowing up a building that actually had civilians in it. Hell, he never really cared for the citizens of Angel Grove; his only goal was the utter destruction of the Power Rangers, by any means necessary. But even those means didn't mean death back when Zedd first terrorized Angel Grove, his main goal to merely make the Rangers his slaves for eternity and send Zordon packing to a dimension where he would be lost forever. Something just didn't feel right about the entire thing. But the Dino Rangers were determined to get to the bottom of it.

"Alright, well...", Conner began to say before his wrist bracelet beeped, Hayley's scratchy voice coming in over the static. "Yeah Hay, we're here. What's going on?"

"Downtown Angel Grove, the park, that's where the five of them are, and that's where you need to be at this instance. No arguments, just go. I'll let you know what's going on when you get there", she said rather harshly as the static died and Kira looked at Trent, while Ethan looked at Conner, as if they were all searching each other for an answer on how to stop this madness.

"Well you heard the lady on the bracelet, go down there and kick some ass!", Skull exclaimed as he slapped Trent on the shoulder, a smile plastered on his face as he did so. "We'll take care of things here, the situation is under control. Thank you though, for showing up and showing your concern. But we've got it", Bulk said firmly as he nodded his head dutifully at the multi-colored heroes. The four of them nodded back to show their understanding.

"Thank you for all you've done down here. Angel Grove's in safe hands with you two running the police and fire departments", Kira said as the four of them shook Bulk and Skull's hands once more, the sincerity in her voice ever so present.

"No, thank you. Thank you four for giving the world hope. Thank you for giving us all a reason to believe that one day, the world will be rid of evil and we'll all be able to live happy lives", Bulk said as he saluted them. Trent nodded his head, Conner and Ethan both gave each other reassuring looks of confidence while Kira had a sad smile on her face. His words had obviously touched them all as they stepped back to begin teleportation to the park.

"Your faith in us shall be rewarded", Ethan said as the four of them then disappeared in streaks of white, blue, yellow and red lights, while Bulk and Skull watched them teleport until they were out of sight, grins on their faces as they then turned their attention back to each other.

"Hey Bulkie."

"Yeah, Skull?"

"You wish that the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers were still around? You know, the original Rangers from our high school days?"

"Yeah, I kind of do still wish they were around. But it's good to see that the Power Rangers as a whole still exist. The originals influence isn't lost on all the Ranger teams after them. It makes me sleep easy at night knowing that the Power Rangers are still protecting the Earth."

"They were the best though, the originals. No disrespect to any team afterwards, but the originals were the best and always will be. They were great."

"You ever find yourself still wondering who the originals were under the helmets, Skull?"

"Bulkie, we're past that phase of our life. We're grown men now."

"I'm well aware of that, but honestly, do you? I know that if they wanted us to know who they were, they would have told us long ago, like the Space Rangers did that one time. But that was the Space Rangers. I'm talking about our Rangers. The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers."

"Truthfully, Bulkie...I do. I've always wanted to know, just so I could go up to whoever they are, shake their hands and thank them for risking their lives for so many years. Sure, back when they saved our asses more than once, we may not have realized it then, but now...I realize that they love us all and want to make sure that the citizens of Angel Grove live peaceful lives. I feel like I'm forever indebted to them for their years of service."

"I hear you on that one, Skull. But that's for another day. Come on man, let's clear this place up and get these people the proper help."

The two men sighed as they took one last look at the night sky, the stars blinking as they turned their attention back to cleaning up the wreckage and blocking it off from the public, the reality of their jobs beginning to set back in as Skull went to confer with a fellow fire fighter about disposing of the ashes, while Bulk got information from one of his officers, who had just concluded questioning a rattled victim, a survivor of the attacks.

Miles away, in downtown Angel Grove, the Dino Rangers landed in the park, near the lake, and immidiately began to survey their surroundings. What they saw was an empty field with no signs of any abnormal lifeforms, or human lifeforms, for that matter. Conner supersped from one end to another in the blink of an eye and found nothing. Ethan surveyed the trees and the brush in the distance, but got nothing as well. Kira let out one of her ear-splitting sonic screams to see if anyone would stumble out of the bushes or the darkness, but all that was heard was her scream echoing throughout the night. After the three of them did their business, Trent got on his wrist bracelet and got through to Hayley.

"Hayley, we've got no signs of anyone or anything being here in the park", he began, knowing that Hayley wouldn't be overly excited with what he just said. "It's just the four of us. Conner, Ethan and Kira searched the main perimeter and got nothing in return as far as human bio-rythyms or alien lifeforms went. What do we do next?", he asked, gulping at the posed question.

"You guys found absolutly nothing? That can't be! From what I have here on the computer, there are readings of those things everywhere! And Jason and his friends were just there no less than ten minutes ago! Something must be wrong with the signal...", Hayley muttered in frustration as she punched in some numbers and codes to try and get a better reception. But suddenly, the computer she was using for all of this suddently went blank, shutting itself off and cutting her connection to the Rangers. Her eyes wide with fear, she frantically tried to turn the computer back on, but was met with nothing but the same blank screen. Back at the park, Trent tapped his wrist bracelet, but nothing came from the other end. Something was up, and it didn't feel good at all.

"What happened, Trent?", asked Conner, who was still overlooking the vacant park for any signs of human lifeforms when he felt Trent's body tense up. "Trent? What is it?" Kira gasped and Ethan snorted in shock, while Trent stared straight ahead, frozen to the touch. "Guys, what is it!? What's so damn important? Hello!? Are you listening to me??"

"L-look", Kira managed to choke out in barely a whisper as Conner looked straight ahead and felt his heart plummet into his gut. Dead ahead were the Putty Patrollers and Tenga Warriors. The sounds they made sent chills up their spines as they watched them inch closer and closer with the intent to rip their heads clean off their shoulders.

"What do we do?", Trent said with a huge gulp as their adversaries were within striking distance, surely waiting for the opportune moment to strike and take them all down as quickly as possible. As the Rangers slowly got into their fighting stances, Conner felt the pang in his heart. He knew what he had to do next. Superspeeding past the three other Dino Rangers, he connected with a sidekick to the shoulder of a Putty Patroller, sending it flying to the ground near the feet of it's comrades.

"The only thing we can do!", Conner shouted as he spin kicked a Tenga in the gut and grabbed two more by the their feathery wrists and flipped them onto their backs, their squawks of pain echoing in the night. "We gotta fight them and hold them off, buy Jason and the rest of them some time, where ever they are!", he shouted as his teammates joined the fray and began to take on their unknown enemies. Kira got surrounded by a group of Putties and tried to take them on in hand to hand combat, parrying a few of their strikes with a few jabs and elbows of her own. When they began to overwhelm her, she let loose a sonic scream that had everyone holding their heads in pain as she summoned her Ptera Grips and went to work, holding them all at bay as best as she could.

Trent ducked and rolled under a crescent kick from a Putty before springing up onto his feet and nailing an axe kick that sent a Tenga twirling in the air, landing on it's back with a sickening thud, but before Trent could celebrate that small victory, he felt two of them grab him by both arms and fling him backwards. Luckily for himself, he managed to change his momentum in mid air, baclfkip, kick off a nearby tree and nail a soaring double punch to two of the Putties faces, knocking them down while he flipped forward and landed on his feet, before sidekicking a Tenga in the gut, backflipping over another Tenga and kicking it in the back, sending it into the one he had just kicked as they fell to the ground. But before long, he too found himself overwhelmed by the seemingly never ending army of Putties and Tengas, taking out his Drago Sword to combat them as he fought on.

Conner and Ethan seemed to be having an easy time at first, with Conner's super speed and Ethan's impenatrable skin, the two of them were taking care of the Putties and Tengas with relative ease, until one of them punched Ethan in the back off the head, causing him to stumble right back into Conner just as he was about to run circles around them again, throwing their entire attack off as they struggled to recooperate and gain the proper footing to battle these creatures. As Conner went for a spin kick, he foot was caught, and he was met with a fist to his gut, while Ethan didn't appear to be faring much better, joining the Red Ranger on the grass, the two of them shortly met by Kira and Trent, who appeared to take pretty bad beatings themselves as they rolled towards their friends, all trying to get up and gain the upper hand again.

In the distance, hidden behind a few large trees, were Jason, Zack, Tanya, Kat and Trini, all them watching on in horror as the Putties and Tengas began to team up and decimate the Dino Rangers one by one. Every time they blinked, they saw a multi-colored suit go flying in another direction as they were picked apart. Jason then went to go join the fight and help them out but felt Kat's hand on his arm. Turning around to face his girlfriend with rage in his eyes and the will to fight pumping through his blood vigorously, he didn't take too kindly to being held back while his best friend's students were being slowly destroyed before his very eyes.

**"What're you doing**, Kat!? Let me out there! They'll die if they don't get any help!", he said loud enough for them to all hear without giving away their location. "It's my fault they're out there in the first place, Kat! **Let me go!"**

"Jason, you can't go out there, because if you do, you'll only end up like them!", she pleaded as the glare in his eyes felt like fire on her skin, but she knew she couldn't let him risk his life, no matter how much he wanted to do so. "I can't afford to lose you! They're the ones with the power still! They'll figure something out! If Tommy taught them, then they must be good for a reason!"

"You don't understand, Kat! They've never faced the Putties or Tengas before! I have! I can take care of it! Let me out there before their deaths are on my hand!"

"Jason, I can't let you! Stay here, please! They'll find a way out of this! Someone will come to help them!"

"Yeah, who the fuck is going to come and help them!? None of us have our powers anymore, I can't even begin to imagine where the other Red Rangers are at this time, and Tommy, Adam, Rocky, Billy, Aisha and Kim have all disappeared on us! What, you expect me to stay here, sit on my hands and let them all die!?** NO!** I won't let that happen! They need help, and I'm gonna give it to them!"

**"Jason, NO!"**

But by the time she screamed her words, Jason had broken free of her grip and began to make his way out of the forested area they were hiding in and was marching towards the battle, where the Dino Rangers were still trying to put up a valiant fight, but were getting their butts kicked. Just as Jason was halfway across the field, it happened. A bright light from the sky blinded him, and blinded just about everyone as everybody stopped what they were doing, the Putties and Tengas even stopping to admire what the source of the light was. Whatever it was, it was getting closer and closer with each second passing.

There were five colored streaks of light landing on the ground; white, red, blue, yellow and black. When the lights disappeared, the sight that Jason saw was enough for him to back away, his jaw dropped in utmost astonishment, his body paralyzed as he was now staring at something he thought he'd never see again in his entire life.

The Ninjetti Rangers. In all of their glory. The spirits of their animals adorned on their ninja suits, their faces cleverly disguised and hooded...the Great Power was with them once more.

And it was time to go back to work.

"Alright guys, let's do it!" the White Ninja said as he pumped his fist, the other four shouting their approval as they leaped high into the air, flipping forward and landing on their feet as they all began to make quick work of the Putties and Tengas, giving the Dino Rangers an opportunity to catch their breath and quickly lick their wounds as the Ninjetti Rangers took care of business like they had never stopped so many years ago in the first place.

The Blue Ninjetti Ranger quickly found himself surrounded by a group of Tengas, but underneath the hood, he was smiling as he flicked his arms upward and disappeared into thin air. As the Tengas scratched their heads and wondered where the heck he went, an arm appeared, punching them in the back of their heads in successive fashion before reappearing, laughing as they all tumbled to the ground, struggling to get back to their feet. Not far behind him, the Yellow Ninjetti Ranger was seen twirling through a group of both Putties and Tengas before handspring backflipping into the air and going through the ground. The monsters looked perplexed by this, but soon found themselves face first on the ground as she re-appeared from under the soil, before punching the Putties in their 'Z', dismembering them before backflipping away.

The Red Ninjetti Ranger found himself cornered by Tengas, backed up against a tree. Thinking quickly, right as the Tengas leapt forward to attack, he scaled up the tree at a lightning fast pace, leaving the Tengas in the dust as he stood at the top of the tree. Laughing hysterically to himself as he stared down at them, he jumped off and teleported in mid air, landing behind them while they all stared at the skies, wondering where he went. Tapping two of them on the shoulder, they turned around and squawked their surprise at being outsmarted, but soon found themselves all lying on their backs as he continued to laugh, cartwheeling to another area of the park to continue the fight. Meanwhile, the Black Ninjetti Ranger was seen taking on a small army of both Putties and Tengas, and for the moment, they seemed to be getting the upper hand, nailing a solid kick to the gut, but instead of taking the wind out of him, he split up into two different bodies. The creatures looked at him confused as he motioned with his hand to bring it on. After side stepping and twirling his way through them, he swiftly took them all down before becoming one again.

The White Ninjetti Ranger, the leader of the group though, was having a great bit of difficulty in trying to send his adversaries away. It seemed as if something else was on his mind as he combated the Putties and Tengas, something that was distracting him from the task at hand as he barely dodged a kick that was aimed at his head, leg sweeping the Tenga before being knocked onto his back, sending him for a loop. Before, in the past, he had been able to dispose of them all rather easily without ever breaking a sweat, but back in those days, he had someone to confide in, someone that would be there to back him up at a moment's notice as they fought these birds from hell and their clay companions. As he kipped back up to his feet and swatted away a Putty, knocking it in the head and sending it onto the ground before destroying it by punching the 'Z', his thought was not on the battle at hand, but what had just happened moments before him and his team came here. It rattled him as he unloaded a few of his trademark jumping roundhouse kicks, all of which seemed to be lacking the velocity and ferocity of his past as he stunned the beasts before he once again found himself flat on his back, staring at the stars.

_"Why?",_ was all he thought as he felt the Tengas claws dig into his suit, trying to bring him to his feet as his teammates watched on, dealing with their own problems, but wanting to help out their leader.

"We've got to get over there and help him!", the Blue Ninjetti Ranger screamed as he destroyed a Putty with a swift short sidekick before stepping backwards and sending a pair of Tengas onto their backs after taking their feet out from under them.

"There's too many of them though!", the Black Ninjetti Ranger yelled out as he aided the Yellow Ninjetti Ranger in ridding themselves of a few more Putties before being swarmed by Tengas. "We've gotta try and lower their numbers before we can do anything!"

"Come on, we've gotta help them out!", Conner said loudly, the Dino Rangers re-appearing after getting their wind back, leading the charge as the Dino Rangers re-entered the fray and began to help the Ninjetti Rangers out. **"AIM FOR THE Z!",** yelled the Red Ninjetti Ranger as he elbowed a Tenga in the head and jumping spin kicked another one in the gut before flipping forward and ripping the Putties off of the Blue Ninjetti Ranger, while their leader was being led away like some sort of sacrifice to their lord.

**"NO!", **they all yelled out as Jason ran forward once more, but found this time that Zack was the one holding him back, his four friends now out of hiding as they watched what happened next. Another bright light appeared in the sky as it rocketed down towards the park, landing right in front of the Putties and Tengas holding the White Ninjetti Ranger up. Once the light disappeared, the White Ninja was able to see what the source of it was. A weak smile crept across his lips as he caught a glimpse of it. One thought came to his mind as he felt the strength re-enter his body.

_"She came."_

Letting out a battle cry, the Pink Ninjetti Ranger started to go to work as the Putties and Tengas bullrushed her, but she used her slide teleportation trick, moving faster than they could as she giggled madly at their vain attempts to reel her in. "You gotta be quick if you wanna catch me!", she said with great delight as she slapped down a Tenga's arm and kicked it in the gut before slide teleporting over to the White Ninjetti Ranger, helping him to his feet as she guarded him from any attacks that might come their way.

"Is it..is it really you? You came after all?", he managed to choke out as tears freely went down his eyelids and on his cheeks as he balled his fists up and prepared himself to battle again, the new found source of strength being her re-appearance to fight the evil.

"You better believe that it's me, buster. Now come on, we've got to clear this place of all these clay heads and bird brains!", she exclaimed as she took a hold of his hand and squeezed it tightly.

"But..."

"I'm with you."

With those three words, the strength was back in his body, the ferocity running through his veins as he smiled down at her, letting her hand go and grunting his kiya, unleashing a vicious side kick that sent a Putty flying backwards into a group of his own, all of them being destroyed with that single, solitary kick. The Dino Rangers stopped and began to admire the unfolding situation; the Pink and White Rangers united once more. They remembered the videos that Dr. O had shown them, what he had told them about how the Pink and White Rangers were always meant to be together. This proved his theory. The rest of the Ninjetti Rangers, along with Zack, Jason, Trini, Kat and Tanya, watched on in awe as the two of them went to town on the Putties and Tengas, beating them all with ease, enjoying it all as the bodies piled up and the Putties were destroyed by the wayside. Before long, the Tengas were sent packing, retreating back to the moon, and the last of the Putty Patrollers were destroyed. The rest of the Ninjetti Rangers ran over to their two friends and began to congratulate them on a job well done, especially the Pink Ninja, all of whom doubted that she would even show up. As the Dino Rangers, Zack, Trini, Jason, Kat and Tanya watched, the Ninjetti Rangers turned to their friends, smiling widely through their hoods.

"Is this what I think it is?", Jason spoke up as he walked to the front of the pack, staring them all in the eyes, his heart racing a mile a minute as he hoped that it was who he thought it was. "Well? Is it really you? Or are you just some imposters?"

"Should we?", the Pink Ninjetti Ranger spoke up as she looked at the rest of her teammates, who all nodded their heads in agreement.

"Let's do it then", the White Ninjetti Ranger said with a grin on his face as they all grabbed their costumes and swiftly removed them, thus powering down to reveal themselves. The Dino Rangers, behind their helmets, collectively felt their jaws hit the ground, while Kat, Tanya, Zack and Trini couldn't believe their eyes, blinking rapidly to see if it really was who it was, not some mirage. It really was them.

"I knew it. I fucking knew it!", Jason exclaimed as he smiled and high fived Tommy and gave Kimberly a big hug, while everyone did the same, this moment too good to be true.

The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers were finally resurrected. And it was the greatest feeling in the world.

**AN: And thus ends chapter six! I know it was a lot to get in but I felt I did a good job, at least I hope I did. Expect chapter seven up soon! Thank you for reading, please review!**


	7. We Need Help

**AN: So, after 3 1/2 months of waiting...here it is! Chapter seven is finally here, wooo! All jokes aside, however, I just want to apologize to those who have read this story and enjoyed it and waited this long for an update. I feel terrible, but hey, this chapter was somewhat hard for me to write. But alas, it is here, and I hope I haven't lost your interest in it. I own nothing, by the way. Enjoy!**

"So...you gotta tell us, bro. How the hell did you do it?"

The voice of Jason Lee Scott echoed throughout Hayley's Cyber Space Cafe, as he patted his best friend, Tommy Oliver, on the back while every other original Power Ranger that had served under Zordon mingled and caught up on times, while Kira, Ethan, Trent and Conner were all in awe to be in the presence of their heroes. Tommy gave his friend a smile and shrugged his shoulders in response to Jason's obvious question, not giving a direct answer.

"C'mon man, don't nonchalontly shrug your shoulders and give me that smile! How the hell did the six of you manage to pull it off again? I thought that the Ninja Coins were destroyed forever! Gone, poof, finito, never to be seen by human eyes again!"

Tommy once more just smiled and said nothing as he walked away from his best friend and went to go give Hayley a big hug and also secretly chide her for sending the kids into action once more last night. Pulling her away from Billy, with whom she was having an animated (in a good way) conversation over their own technological prowesses, he wrapped his big, muscular arms around her and whispered into her ear, "You don't know how happy I am to be here right now."

Skeptical look on her face, Hayley pulled away and put a hand on her hip, heel clicking on the floor as she looked at her long time friend and realized how he was....glowing? Yeah, he was _glowing_. Everything about him was just...different, it seemed. His hair was done nicely for a change, no ratty ponytail that was flying all over the place this time around. His clothes looked nice, formal, clean, pressed and exquisite. Everything in his body movements and how he was carrying himself today was just....un-Tommy like. What had this regaining in power done to him in just a span of 24 hours?

"While I'm sure you meant every word of that, Thomas, I can't help but wonder what the _hell _has come over you today. Why the sudden change in demeanor? Why all happy-go-lucky? And most importantly, why the **HELL** were you on time today!? You are **NEVER** on time!", she asked and said tersely, still trying to understand the change. "Where is Dr. Tommy Oliver, and what have you done to him?!", she near yelled as Tommy broke into a grin and laughed hysterically. That's all he did. He laughed. And laughed. And laughed. It was starting to get annoying and Hayley was seriously beginning to wonder if this was actually the guy she had become great friends with in college, and not some monster in disguise sent to disrupt the party.

"Quit laughing. I'm serious, stop. It's getting kind of creepy."

But he didn't stop. He just kept going and going. Finally though, Hayley stomped her heel on the ground hard enough to cause him to stop, and after a few moments of taking some deep breaths, Tommy was back to normal, but he was still smiling broadly, it was almost creepy the way he was flashing his teeth. Motioning with his head and shoulders to follow him, he walked over to the couches near the front door and plopped down on one, while Hayley padded over and sat down on one of the chairs across from him, away from everyone else, all of them enjoying themselves thouroughly. But before Tommy could get so much as a peep in, Hayley initiated the questioning once more, this time a little more fiercly than before.

"What the hell is up with you today, Tommy? Do you see yourself? Do you see how you're acting right now? What's the matter with you? Did you accidentally fall into a giant pile of cocaine and snort it all this morning or something?", she said harshly, her eyes like daggers piercing the skin. But instead of answering her questions about his mood and overall demeanor today, Tommy gazed behind Hayley and saw Trent, Kira, Conner and Ethan...his 'kids', so to speak, huddled together, glee all over their young faces like they had stars in their eyes, the four of them simply in pure awe at all of the legends standing before them. Tommy smiled and chalked it up as one of those feel good moments that being a Ranger was known for producing.

"Look at them, Hayley", he said, pointing towards his Dino Rangers, as she turned and saw them all together, big, bright smiles on their lips. "Yeah, what about the kids?", she muttered, turning back. "Isn't it special? I mean, just watching the four of them right now...doesn't it feel special to you? I feel like I'm living vicariously through them right now. I mean, c'mon. They're standing in the same room with the first line of protectors for the planet Earth, Zordon's Rangers. Right now, looking at how happy the four of them are is the reason why I'm acting like I am right now. They've wanted this for the longest time, they've always wanted to meet my many friends, the original Power Rangers, and now they've gotten the chance to do so. I feel like they're truly my children in a sense. Like right now, it feels like it's Christmas day and they're opening all their presents, and I'm the dad watching them open their gifts."

"Aw....really Tommy? That's cute, really touching and all...but...."

"But what?"

"There's another reason as to why you're so happy, isn't there?"

"Mhm, yeah, I guess. It's a small reason."

"So then....is it true?"

Tommy grinned and dug into his pocket, his hand fishing around in there for a second before retrieving the item in question. Holding it up in the light, Hayley's eyes grew as wide as the coin was gold, the insignia of the falcon emblazoned on it. She put her hands over her mouth and gasped as the coin shone in the sunlight, Tommy twirling it around in his fingers before putting it safely back into his pocket. Her proof was right there.

"Oh my god, it _is_ true", Hayley breathed out as she put her hands back down on her knees, her jaw dropped, trying to comprehend what seeing that coin just meant for her, the Dino Rangers, Tommy, the rest of the gang and all of California, basically. "H-Wh-How did you...what does this...uh....HOW?!", was all she managed to get out while Tommy cracked up again, his head leaning against the back of the chair as he looked upwards, laughing hysterically.

"Don't worry, we'll explain it later. And by we'll, I mean all six of us. It'll be a great story, trust me", Tommy said as he went to stand up and go rejoin his friends, before he felt Hayley's hand on his wrist jerk him back into a seat next to her. Rubbing his wrist and giving her an irritated look, Tommy murmured, "What was that for, Hayley? Is it a crime for me to want to go talk with my friends?"

"No, it's not, but that's not why I'm keeping you here right now. I think you know why."

Tommy's eyes darkened and the grin he was wearing before faded away real quick; he knew exactly what Hayley was alluding to, and quite frankly, he felt that right now wasn't the time to start talking about that ultra touchy subject. At least not until later, when the two of them weren't in the company of the kids and all of the other former Power Rangers. He figured that Hayley would want to drag this subject back up from it's muddy resting spot, and he was right. Right now though, Tommy wanted nothing more than to just simply enjoy himself and revel in the triumph that happened last night, feeling better than he had in weeks, hell, months even.

"Hayley, if it's all the same to you, I'd rather not talk about that at the moment, k? I'm here to have fun, catch up on things, and slide back, once more, into the all too familiar role I was forced into far too long ago. Is that fine with you? Because I really, really don't want to discuss it."

Hayley rolled her eyes; typical Tommy Oliver right here. Here he was, running away, evading, dodging, whatever you may call it, the subject that he had refused to let go for the past thirteen years. Tommy Oliver. Running away from something. But this wasn't a monster or a horde of evil space aliens, nothing like that. This was all about the brunette who just wouldn't go away...

"Aw, what's the matter, Tommy? Back in the day, all you wanted to do was talk about Kim this, Kim that. Kimberly's a bitch, no wait, I still love her. Why did she do this to me? Why didn't I chase her? Kimberly Ann Hart, yadda yadda, it drove me insane! Now you and her are back in the same city, on the same team again, holding your old powers, powers that, might I add, are based _off of one another and supposed to inter-twine with each other's_, standing in the same building, mere feet away from each other....and now you don't want to talk about her? What the hell gives, Tommy?"

"Hayley, just stop it. Now is not the time, alright? Don't force this conversation on me. It will come, but it will come when I damn well want it to come."

"Tommy, don't even start that sh--"

But then Hayley stopped herself in mid sentence, and not because Tommy went to say cut her off, oh no. She stopped herself out of fear. _"He did it again. That trick with his eyes",_ she thought to herself as she swore she saw Tommy's eyes flash green. That usually wasn't a very good sign for anyone who knew Tommy well enough. He stood up, eyes fixated on her as he cleared his throat to speak.

"We're done for now, ok Hayley?", he said in a eerily dark tone, while all she did was nod her head in approval. The psuedo-evil facade then went away and Tommy smiled back at her, like he hadn't just practically threatened her with his flashing green eyes trick, before returning to his friends, leaving Hayley to shake her head and think, _"I will never, truly understand that boy..."_ She stood up, sighed, shook her head, and then went to go find Billy so that they could continue their talk from earlier.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"This is so cool. I can't believe we're surrounded by legends!"

"You're telling me! They're the coolest people I've ever met outside of Dr. O and Hayley!"

"Words can't even begin to describe how much of an honor this is for me to be here right now."

"Hey, who had the last of the guacamole?"

Kira, Ethan and Trent turned their heads and gave Conner odd looks, while he continued to stuff his face with tortilla chips, pretzels and basically anything he could get his hands on that was edible. Shaking their heads in mild disgust at their friend's eating habit and ignoring that last question, the Yellow, Blue and White Dino Rangers faced each other again and began asking themselves questions on, you guessed it, the legends that they found themselves in the same room with.

"So who did you talk to first?", asked Ethan excitedly as the four of them made their way over to the bar and sat down on the stools, looking at the group of people around them like they were little kids in a candy shop, wide eyed, mouths hung open and and nothing but giddy admiration on their minds.

"I talked to Trini first, cuz you know, her being the first Yellow and myself being a Yellow and all", Kira said while pointing to the sleeve of her yellow shirt proudly and smiling broadly, while Trent took a second, just a quick second, to notice just how beautiful his girlfriend was when she smiled. "I couldn't believe how wise she is, and just how calm and caring too. I mean, I thought that the other female Rangers were something special, but sheesh, Trini just about takes the cake!", Kira exclaimed as she eyed the first Yellow Ranger with nothing but utmost respect.

"Pfft, wait until you meet Billy and Adam", murmured Ethan, taking the floor from Kira. "I could spend hours upon hours listening to Billy speak, and I wouldn't grow bored with it. It's like he's my long lost brother or something...except he's the first Blue Ranger and he's married to an alien on a distant planet! And he has a kid, too! Oooh, and Adam, I can't forget about him! It's no wonder that Zack picked him to be the second Black Ranger, he's awesome! He even said he'd teach me how to play the guitar if I wanted to!", he said, which earned him a slap on the back of the head from Kira and a few snickers from Conner and Trent, before Ethan gave them each a dirty look and rubbed his head.

"Oww! What the hell was that for, Kira?", Ethan whined.

"That's for, you know, completely forgetting the fact that, yes, believe it or not, I'm actually pretty good at playing the guitar and yes, that I've offered to teach you in the past and you told me you weren't interested. And now ya spend five minutes talking to the second Black and Green Ranger and now all of a sudden you want to learn to play? I don't get you", Kira said in mock offense while laughing a bit and giving Ethan an apologetic look.

"So what? Ya still didn't have to hit me."

"Yeah well, you had a Conner moment there. Sorry, Eth."

"Hey!"

"Anyways", said Trent, clearing his throat and moving on past a potential Conner/Kira argument (heavens knows he had suffered through enough of _those_ in the past two days, let alone the past two years) and continuing on the subject that was at hand. "I managed to talk to Katherine, and I have to say, I was impressed with how dignified she is and how well she carries herself. She's quite eloquent and insightful, and Jason was right; that girl certaintly does have a heart of gold", he said with a smile, wrapping his arm around Kira, who had a questionable look on her own face as she eased into Trent's arm.

"Heart of gold, huh? Why dont'cha just run away with her then, huh? Who needs little ol' Kira Ford when you've got Katherine, the second Pink Ranger with a heart of gold!"

"Nah. Katherine's cool and all, but she's waay too old for me, despite that whole Fountain Of Youth spiel. And besides, there's this really great girl I know who I love so much and yeah, I'd rather run away with her over anyone else....even the second Pink Ranger."

"Does this girl wear way too much yellow for her own good, smack a Red around a lot, sing in the shower every day, and have a scream that could potentially break the sound barrier?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

Ethan, taking this moment to roll his eyes and pretend to gag at the brewing love fest between Kira and Trent, turned to face Conner, who still had that bag of tortilla chips in his hands as he scarfed them down left and right, to the point where three quarters of the bag was now empty and all he was getting was crumbs and broken chips. Shaking his head at his friend and fellow Ranger's utterly grotesque and nasty eating habits, he asked him the question everyone else had already answered.

"So, Conner, my man", Ethan spoke as he watched his teammate finish the bag and toss it in the garbage nonchalontly, like he literally hadn't eaten an entire bag of chips in less than ten minutes flat. "Who did you speak to first, eh?"

Scoffing, Conner shook his head and looked down at the ground. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, dude", he muttered while Ethan rolled his neck and gave Conner an odd look.

"Oh come off it man. We're all friends here. Who'd you speak to? Aisha? Tanya? Zack?"

"Nope. None of them."

"Who then? Billy? Adam?"

"You seriously won't believe me, Ethan."

"Try me, Conner. I can be pretty gullible."

"I spoke to Kimberly."

Kira and Trent, who were peppering each other with small, soft kisses and whispering their love for each other in their ears, stopped what they were doing upon hearing this and fixed their gazes on the Red Dino Ranger. Ethan's jaw hung open, and if it were a cartoon, his eyes would have bulged out to epic sizes and his tongue would have rolled out of his mouth, hit the floor, and kept on rolling for miles. Conner noticed this and shrugged his shoulders. "I told you that you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kimberly Hart sat on one of the couches at the far end of the Cyberspace Cafe, her daughter Nevaeh a couple of feet away, surfing the web on one of the nearby computers, oblivious to everything going on around her, that being the reunion/anniversary party for the original Power Rangers. Good thing that she had years of practice covering up Ranger related activities; she had told Nevaeh that this little get together was to celebrate Jason and Kat's twelve year anniversary of being together (she bought it, so it didn't matter how totally lame it sounded.) Kimberly bit her lip at the mere thought of the anniversary party; eventually, she was going to have to explain to her daughter that Mommy was (and still is? Oh god...) a Power Ranger. The last two words swam around in her head for a few moments as she digested them.

Here she was. Reefside, California. Home to one of the most recent Ranger teams in the past few years.

A Ranger team that was run by her first true love. An ex-boyfriend who, it seemed, was forever going to be the Power's bitch. But then again...hadn't they all been a bitch to the Power in more than one way?

Jason came back and wielded the Gold Ranger powers for a time with the Zeo team.  
Billy practically ran the Command Center after he stopped being the Blue Ranger, right up until he left for Aquitar and Cestria.  
**Him**....he was pretty self explanitory. Multi Colored Morphin' Moron, Rocky had jokingly dubbed him.  
Adam helped the Space Rangers many years ago, and just last year helped the Overdrive Rangers out and relished that role.  
Kat, being linked romantically to Jason, always knew what was up within the Ranger community.  
Zack and Trini were regularly updated by Jason, seeing as Jason was basically in the know on everything.  
Rocky opened a dojo due to his years as a Power Ranger after passing his Turbo powers off to Justin (who sadly couldn't make it due to flight complications out of Arizona).  
Tanya was married to Adam. She didn't know of Adam's escapade with the Overdrive Rangers (how Adam covered it up was beyond anyone's mind), but she was in the know of everything else.  
Hell, even she had helped the Turbo Rangers out on Murianthias a long time ago...after that whole evil lava pit sacrifice thing.

The only one who didn't know almost anything was Aisha, but she was all the way in Africa with her many animals, so she was given a free pass. But regardless of all that, who would have thought that this would have actually come to fruition? Sure, the reunion and party, all of the hooplah and praise for being the first ever of their kind was great (sort of), that was expected, but.....

The regaining of the powers and diving head first back into a lifestyle they all thought they had moved on from years ago, though? Yeah, that wasn't expected in the slightest...and to be honest, all six of them weren't sure if they wanted to welcome it back with fully open arms, either. The six of them being the protectors of the Ninjetti, sacred animals, and most importantly, the Great Power.

_"I can't believe this",_ Kimberly thought as she rubbed the gold coin in her pocket. _"A week ago, I was enjoying a pretty good life in Florida, and Angel Grove, Power Rangers and..._**him**_, were the furthest things on my mind. I nearly died when Nev showed me that letter from Jase. The dream didn't help either. Damn him and his god-forsaken after-effects from Muranthias! But who'd of honestly thought this would actually happen? Come here to AG, looking to see old friends and catch up on everything new and old, see how everyone's doing...avoid _**him**_ like the plague while at the same time hoping he__ would chase after me like he did back when we were young...and now after last night, all I have to say about this entire trip so far is...what the fuck happened?"_

Kimberly snorted and chuckled for a second before recalling the conversation she had with Conner McKnight, **his** Red Ranger, a few moments ago. That's right. **His** own Red actually mustered up the courage to come and speak to her. _"Gotta hand it to him, he taught that Conner kid good. I just didn't think that having the guts to speak to the first Pink Ranger came with his training",_ she mused to herself as her daughter left the computer and sat down next to her mother, confused look on her gorgeous face.

"What's up, Mom? You doing alright? You look like you're lost", Nevaeh Hart said as she pushed a loose strand of her hair behind her ear and crossed her right leg over her left, like a proper lady (she was definatly taking after her grandma).

"Oh...nothing", Kim lied through her teeth horribly. "Why don't you go talk to Uncle Jay or Aunt Tri? I just need, uh....need a few moments to myself, to gather my thoughts."

"Mom, c'mon, don't try and shoo me off like that when there's obviously something bothering you. Talk to me. Tell me about last night and how you stole the show like I know you did. There's only so much a fourteen year old girl like myself can do in a hotel room all by herself, wanting to know what her mother is doing without wanting to go crazy ", Nevaeh stated as she looked out at everyone and smiled, feeling good to be back in her mom's friends presence; they were some of the coolest people she had ever met, and they were considered family because of the mega tight bond they all shared, hence why she called Jason 'Uncle Jay' and Trini 'Aunt Tri'. And on the other hand, she knew her mother very well; whenever she was bothered by something and her friends were around, she'd always, _always _tell her to go speak to them so she could be left alone.

"There's nothing bothering me, sweetie. Now go on, go and talk to Uncle Jay or Aunt Kat, they've both been dying to see you", Kim said distantly, her eyes surveying the surroundings, looking for a way to get her daughter out of the building before her gaze fell upon **his** Rangers; Kira, Trent, Ethan and Conner. _"Perfect!", _she thought to herself as she grabbed her daughter by the hand and led her over to the young Dino Rangers and began introducing her daughter to them.

"Oh, hey Ms. Hart", said Conner, who gave her a small wave and a smile, while the other three replied with hello's of their own and waves as well. "Is this your--", the Red Dino Ranger went to say before his mouth was covered by Kimberly's hand, an uneasy smile on her face as she leaned in close to his ear.

"Don't even think of saying it, oh-kay?", she whispered somewhat menicingly, recieving a quick nod from the slightly terrified Red Dino Ranger. Leaning back and discarding the scowl, she gave them all a broad smile, which, to the four young adults, was a nice sight, but also a bit creepy, but they wouldn't dare say anything. They had all heard stories of the first Pink Ranger's mean streak (usually from Jason or Rocky; Dr. O didn't really like talking about her all that much) and knew that it would be best to stay away from that territory.

"Please Conner, call me Kimberly. Being called Ms. Hart makes me feel old", she said with a wave of her hand and a chuckle. "Anyways, I was wondering, if it's ok with you, if you could show my niece around Reefside. There's something I need to, um, take care of."

The four Dino Rangers looked to each other, then looked back to Kimberly and the shy looking girl who was looking around the place nervously, her eyes coming back to Conner repeatedly before looking down at the ground quickly. While they wanted to meet the rest of the original Power Rangers, something told them that they were going to be able to do that later, or at the very least, within the next few days. Kira saw Kimberly's niece's eyes trail to Conner for a few moments, a fidgety smile on her lips, before they went back to her feet and thought to herself, _"Oh, great. She thinks Conner's cute. Looks like I'll have to save her", _Kira thought as she gave the two women before her a smile and extended her hand towards Kim's niece and began to introduce herself.

"Oh that's no problem Ms...um, Kimberly, we'll gladly show your niece around. Hi, my name is Kira. What's yours?", she said sweetly as Kimberly's niece extended her own hand slowly and nervously, before locking hands and shaking Kira's.

"My name is Nevaeh, but you can call me Nev if you'd like", she said timidly as she released her hand from Kira's grip and looked at the three boys, who all smiled back warmly.

"It's nice to meet you, Nevaeh. That's an awesome name. Oh, and this is Ethan, Trent and Conner."

"Pleasure to meet you all", Nevaeh said quietly as she shook the boys' hands one at a time.

"So that's alright with you guys?", Kimberly asked once more as she was met with four nods of the head from the Dino Rangers. She smiled as she breathed a sigh of relief on the inside. _"Whew. At least Nevaeh's out of the way for the time being",_ Kimberly thought.

"It's cool, Ms....er, Kimberly. We'll show your niece around and have a good time. It's our pleasure", said Ethan in an upbeat tone as Kimberly gave her "niece" a peck on the cheek and waved them goodbye before turning around and walking back over to the couch that she was previously occupying, while Nevaeh and the Dino Rangers began to shuffle out of the building. Before they exited, Nevaeh turned her head to face her mother and mouthed out the word "Niece?", to which Kimberly shot her a stern look and mouthed "Just go with it", right before she watched her daughter get jerked out the door to the outside.

"So...um, what do you guys do for fun around here?", asked Nevaeh eagerly, while Kira grinned, putting her arm around Nevaeh's shoulder as they exited and walked down the street, passing by everyone's car, which, not-so-coincidentally, was the color (or colors) that they wore when they held the Power.

"Trust me when I say this, Nevaeh. There's plenty to do around here."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"What was it like going through the whole routine again after so many years away from it?"

"I told you, you'll have to wait."

"Did it feel good? Like, how did your body react to it?"

"Patience is a virtue."

"You bonded with the coins, right? Like old times?"

"God damn it, can't you guys just wait until the six of us are ready to talk about it?"

"Did the suits fit?"

"What?! C'mon, are you serious?"

For most of the afternoon, that was all that Billy Cranston, Aisha Campbell, Rocky DeSantos and Adam Park found themselves being bombarded with; question after question after question. With every one that passed them by, it was met with a shrug of the shoulder, or they rolled their eyes and sighed. Rocky laughed most of them off, while Adam was getting more and more impatient with each and every one asked. The six people in question, the four of them and of course, the two hopeless romantics, had stated from the moment they all walked through the doors to Hayley's cafe that, when they felt that the time was right, which meant it would be saved for last at the end of the party, the six of them would come together and tell the story of how...well.

You know. How it happened. Again.

"Why can't you just tell us now?", whined Katherine as she put her arm around Aisha's shoulder and gave her a big smile, to which Aisha playfully pushed her away and put her hand on her hip, rolling her eyes. This surely would continue until the six of them finally got together later that night to address them all.

"Because we all agreed to keep you guys waiting. We know how impatient **some** of you can be", Aisha said, nodding her head in Zack's general direction.

"Now I know you don't mean me, 'Sha", Zack said playfully with that ever-present grin of his on his lips, while the guys groaned and made gagging noises, while Zack shook his head and lightly punched Rocky on the arm, who began to put on an act, feigning pain as he clutched his arm. "But seriously guys, you really gonna keep us waiting and hanging like this? C'mon, tell us already. It's probably nothing we haven't all heard before."

"Ahh, but that is where you are misguided, my consort. This tale is quite possibly the most prodigious story that any of us have ever been participants of. You will veraciously appreciate halting until we are ready to speak", said Billy in his techno-talk, seemingly falling back into that old habit of his as he went about drinking a bottle of water cheerily, while everyone around him had blank stares on their faces.

"Uh...what?", was all that Adam could say, everyone else scratching their heads.

"I wouldn't know, I don't speak Billy", Rocky replied as he shook his head, making a mental note to himself to go check the dictionary and find out just what the hell Billy said.

"The only person that can speak Billy is Trini, and even I don't think she could of understood what he just friggin said", Tanya said in an almost irritated tone as she looped her arm around Adam's and rested her head on his shoulder, while asking, "Where's Tommy? Anyone seen him around?"

"Nope, haven't seen him since he dragged Hayley away from me earlier", responded Billy, searching the area for any sign of their leader, but to no avail.

"I wonder where he could be..."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Bro, she totally wants to speak to you."

"You're crazy if you actually think that."

"I became crazy the moment I put on the spandex. This is nothing compared to that."

"This is you trying to play Cupid again and failing miserably."

"The chemistry is already there, bro. It's always been there. You just gotta want to rekindle it."

"I don't want to rekindle anything with **her**. Are we done here?"

"Not by a long shot, man."

Tommy groaned, eyes rolling as he looked at his best friend, Jason Lee Scott, and gave him a look that said, "I could kill you right now", as he peered out the door of the dry storage room and saw everyone conversating and having a great time, which was the intent of this party to commemorate their ever-lasting legacy as defenders of the Earth. He scanned the crowd as best as he could, but couldn't find any trace of...well, of **her**. Good. He wanted to see as little of **her** as possible until the big story was told, after which he would thank everyone, say goodbye, promise to keep in touch with them all and then get the hell outta dodge until the next battle or whatever. He was hoping that it would all go off without a hitch and he wouldn't have to answer any questions or just deal with the usual "get back together" crap he faced whenever someone brought **her** up.

Naturally, that probably wouldn't happen, given Tommy's more than amazing luck.

"Why do you always want to play this game, man? You know there's nothing between us anymore. This is only the second time I'm seeing **her** in eleven goddamn years, Jase, and you're telling me that she wants to speak to me about everything?"

"Did I stutter, Tommy?"

"You might as well have, Jason."

"Dude, come on. Stop acting like this! Why can't you take my word for it? She seriously feels that now, considering what just happened, and being around everyone again, is the time to let bygons be bygons and hash everything out so you two at least talk to each other again and be friends."

"And what if I don't want to?"

"My goodness, yesterday you were practically falling over your own feet at the mere sight of her in that dress, and now you don't want anything to do with her? What the hell gives, Tommy? Why the sudden about face?"

"You wouldn't understand even if you tried to understand it."

"Oh yeah? You obviously don't know me as well as you think you do then."

"Maybe I'm just not in the mood to tell you. Maybe I just want to get as far away from this place as possible and re-think everything. Maybe I just want my god damned normal life back, the normal life I had for four years before last night, before this god damned anniversary, before last night became a giant re-awakening that I didn't need. Do you know what it's like, Jason? To have a normal life? To not have to be a slave to the Power? Do you?!"

"Yeah, I do. Other than Forever Red, I do. So don't even begin to use that as an excuse, because it wasn't like I was out there with your Dino Rangers every day after being away for so long."

"You don't know what it was like to be me though, Jase. Green, white, red, black. I stayed on halfway through Turbo, for Christ's sake! I went through college, and you know how everyone enjoys their college lives and has fun? I didn't! You know damn well what my life in college was like! I was constantly looking over my shoulder, keeping tabs on every Ranger team after the Turbo powers were passed off to T.J. and the rest of them. And then, then....finally, I think I'm in the clear when I graduate college, I leave Angel Grove and I begin working with Anton...but no!"

"Tommy, calm down man", Jason stated to his best friend as he put his hands up and placed them on his friend's shoulder, trying to settle him down, but it wasn't going to work, not this time. Tommy was being way too damn stubborn for him to not continue venting.

"I get to that damn island and here I am, stupid me, thinking that this is going to be the beginning of a normal life for me, that I'm finally going to stop being the Power's bitch, and I walk into the laboratory there with a big, toothy smile on my face, ready to face a world free of any Ranger related activities, and what fucking happens!? Anton goes crazy, Mesogog is brought into my fucking life, I have to scramble to take possession of the three Dino Gems, and then I have to escape the exploding island before I meet my demise. It never stops! Then I meet Kira, Conner and Ethan, they become **RANGERS** that are now **MY** responsibility, I turn **MY** house into a **COMMAND CENTER**, and then you know what just has to top all of that?! I become the censored Black Dino Ranger! As if **THREE** colors wasn't enough, now I have to don a** FOURTH**!?"

"Tommy, stop acting like this, I'm sure everyone can hear you right now. Just relax and--"

"So here I am, high school science teacher reverting back to the one thing I never wanted to revert back to! Forever Red was a one shot deal and I only did it because I knew you'd be there, and I didn't want you, Andros, TJ, Wes and Eric giving me shit for not going. Especially you. Now I'm grappling with becoming a Ranger again, trying to juggle teaching and being a mentor to three kids, then Trent comes along and becomes evil and then joins the team, now it's _four_ kids I have to look after and then just when I thought that my life of slavery would be over, just when we defeat Mesogog and I return to the normal, quiet life....you! You! You came to me in that dream!"

"What dream? What're you talking about, Tommy?"

"That damn dream! You said you had a vision from Zordon and that he told us to go to the Fountain Of Time! That we had to revert back to our younger bodies in the event that some damn war would take place! You think I wanted to be stuck inside the body of my twenty two year old self for the rest of my life!?"

"You did say how radical it would be to have that to fall back on, bro."

"That's besides the point! One thing led to another, I became 22 again, then this reunion came around, I became a fucking falcon again and then....**her!** **Her **again! She falls back into my life and--"

"Yup. _Her_. Funny how it all comes back to that one gal you can't seem to shake, huh Tommy?"

Tommy knew that Jason had him. Jason knew that Tommy had him. Jason merely smiled confidantly, knowing exactly what Tommy was going to say next. He didn't even bother to say it, because he could see it all over his best friend's face, clear as day. Before Tommy even uttered the words, Jason began to laugh, while Tommy cursed under his breath and stormed past him, giving him the bird and muttering "I'm going to speak to her and get it over with", ferociously kicking open the door and stomping back out into the room, Jason's cackling still clearly audible as the door swung open and shut before closing.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I don't know if I want to go through with this. I don't think he's going to want to listen to anything I have to say..."

"How can you be so sure about that, hun?"

"Girl, it has been eleven years. I've gone eleven long, agonizing years without speaking to or seeing **him**, and all of a sudden, I just kind of fall right back into his lap..."

"What did Jason say?"

"Why does it matter what Jason said?"

"Because he ususally tends to agree with whatever I say when it comes to this touchy subject."

There they stood, in the women's bathroom of Hayley's Cyberspace Cafe, gossiping like they were back in the hallowed halls of Angel Grove High all over again. Kimberly dragged Trini in here because she knew that Jason was too busy with...**him**...and knowing how stubborn **he** was (another painstakingly abundant quality they shared), she figured Jason would be in the dry storage room for quite a bit, so Trini it was. In retrospect, speaking to Trini was probably better than talking to Jason, Kimberly reasoned, because she felt that it was always good to have another female voice around, kind of like a double edged sword, just not quite deadly. Kimberly sighed, however, at Trini's words, not wanting to believe them. But she was right; her 'brother' always did seem to agree with whatever her 'sister' had to say when it came to this particular topic; it was like two gnats were constantly buzzing around her head, whispering the things she already knew or didn't want to hear into her ear, and no matter how hard or how frequently she swatted at them, the gnats and their voices never seemed to fade away. Oh, the completely crazy life of Kimberly Hart.

"You know, no matter how many times you two would team up together to tell me that I have to do the right thing in regards to this, no matter how annoying it could get at times and no matter how many times I wanted to rip my hair our because of you two and your persistance, it never gets old."

"Good to see that it's finally gotten you to look at things from a brighter perspective, Pinky. But really, what did Jason tell you?"

"He said that I should just follow my heart. Do what I feel that I need to do to make everything in the world right again, know what I mean? He wasn't too descriptive, he just told me what he told me. But then I turn around for a second to read a text from Nevaeh, the next thing I know, he's gone."

"Probably got dragged off to the dry storage room immidiately after you turned your head. They're probably still in there as we speak. How do you think that conversation is going?"

"Knowing both of them as well as I do....Jason's probably dealing with the pity party, bitch-fest right now. But at least this bitch-fest is deserved..."

"Kim, you can't keep hanging yourself up on something that happened thirteen years ago! It's 2008! You're both adults for God's sake! Well, kinda...but you can't keep beating yourself up over something you did when you were in high school, hun."

"It's not as easy as apple pie, Tri. You of all people should know that. I mean, did you see the way **he** was last night, and now today **he** acts as if I don't exist? I mean, what gives? What do I have to do to get **him** alone, in a room, so that we can finally hash things out and move on with our lives?"

"You know you want more out of it, Kim. I know you like the back of my hand. You don't want to just 'move on' with your life after speaking to him. You want it back. You both do. It's so clear, it's like I can see inside your heads."

"Tri, please, can we not talk about that? I want what I want, and you want something that'll never be recaptured again, no matter how hard you, Jason, Zack, Rocky or any of them try. What happened is over and done with. I've accepted it, **he's** accepted it, and you all need to accept it as well."

"What if I told you he still wasn't over it."

The words stopped Kimberly, froze her right in her tracks as she gave Trini a steely-eyed glare, narrowing her eyes, lips pursed as she tilted her head to the side and tried to digest what her best friend had just said. There was no way that **he** wasn't still wanting things to be the way they were. There was just....no way in hell. She had to be hearing things. Surely she was going delusional. Maybe it was regaining the power after not wielding it for so long, yeah, that was it, that was totally it, she was suffering from the energy going throughout her body again and oh wow she was finding herself coming to the realization that **he** might actually not be over it after all and that **he** might want things to be what they once were and she wasn't so sure if she was ready to accept that but she totally was feeling a little bit lightheaded right now probably because of the elation at the fact that their might be a glimmer of hope for her at the end of the tunnel after all after waiting for it for so long.

Kimberly shook her head and slowed herself down a bit, running her hands through her chocolate brown hair and pulling it back into a ponytail while Trini eyed her with some interest. Kimberly was sweating. She was actually sweating! But why the hell was she sweating, she thought to herself. She momentarily shook her head and put her game face back on, knowing that she couldn't let her guard down around Trini, because she knew how Trini could be sometimes, especially when they were talking about this. She just had to play it cool, no way she could show any happiness.

"What's that supposed to mean, Trini? You said it yourself, it happened thirteen years ago,"

"It meant exactly what it was intended to mean, Kim. I know these things."

"Somehow I get the feeling that you're merely pulling my leg and trying to get a reaction out of me, a reaction of joy, something that would uplift my spirits."

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. That's for you to figure out on your own. But I know what I know, and I also know that your yearning to find some closure. You can deny it all you want, Kim, but I know you better than I know myself sometimes. Maybe you should just take Jason's advice and--"

"Follow my heart? I did that fifteen years ago, and look where it got me. And, if I remember correctly, wasn't it you who gave me your support when that damn letter was written? Wasn't it you who promised to keep everything a secret?"

"Yes, Kim. I won't try to deny that. But while I merely kept the secret, which I did and still have to this day, it was your secret to tell. Jason knows because, well, did you really expect to keep it from him that long?"

"No...no, I didn't."

"And Rocky only knows because Jason had a rare slip of the tounge and it came out accidentally, and to my knowledge, both of them have kept the secret safe from everyone all this time as well."

"So what are you trying to get at, Trini?"

"I said it a few seconds ago, but I'll say it again. It. Is. Your. Secret. To. Tell. He deserves to know the truth about everything and you deserve to not kill yourself over keeping it bottled up like this. You need to let it go, Kim."

"You think it's easy living with this secret for as long as I have? You think I like keeping it from everyone, from **him**? Do you?"

"Kimberly, please, I'm your friend here, I'm just try--"

"There are times when I wake up in the middle of the night and wonder why I did why I did. I feel like the biggest pile of trash sometimes. I look at Nevaeh and I see something that I wish I saw more of. It's not easy at all, Trini! It isn't!"

"Kim...."

"I can't do this anymore! I need help...I need guidance...I need....something!"

"Kim, you're only proving mine and Jason's point here."

"And what point would that be, Trini?"

"You need to speak to him and get back what you had."

Kimberly stared blankly at her best friend, the first Yellow Ranger, blinking rapidly. She weighed her options in her brain, lost in thought. Speak to him and find that damn closure she had been wanting for fifteen years? Speak to him and tell him how much she still, as crazy as it sounded, loved him and wanted to be in his presence again? Speak to him and reveal the secret? Or just not speak to him, give her coin back to Katherine and fade away into obscurity (helloo Florida!) again? She was mighty conflicted on what to do, but the voice of reason, the little imaginary angel on her shoulder told her to do the right thing. There was no little imaginary devil because Kimberly just knew that what had to be done, something that should have been done after the whole ''becoming evil, turning good again and helping the Turbo Rangers out" incident on Muranthias.

She had the perfect opportunity to tell him on the trip back and after the trip. And she didn't....because she was scared shitless at the mere thought of him hating her even more than he (presumably) already did. And seeing him...and Kat....together (in love, possibly?) just made things incredibly awkward and unsettling for her. So she fled. She ran away...again. But enough was enough. She knew what she had to do. Walking forward, Kimberly engulfed Trini in a huge hug before kissing her best friend on the forehead.

"Thank you, Trini. Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're right. I'm going to make things better. Just you watch."

And with that, Kimberly turned on her heel and marched right out the door, while Trini crossed her arms across her chest and had a smile that couldn't of been sandblasted off.

"That's my girl. Go get 'em."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Everyone was now chatting it up as the sun began to set on the day, meaning that, yes, the big story would be told about how the legendary Mighty Morphin Power Rangers were riding high like the West Coast cowboys and cowgirls they once were. The energy in the room was high, and everyone was now at the point of impatience, wanting desperately to hear the story told by the six Ninjetti Rangers wielding the Great Power.

"It's time, it's time! Finally! I thought we'd never get to hear the story", said Katherine excitedly, clasping her hands together as she flashed that big smile of hers.

"I just hope it's been worth all this wait. If their story sucks, then I want my money back", Tanya joked as she took a sip of her drink and set it back down on the table.

"Nah, knowing my main men Billy and Adam here, this story is gonna rock the roof off of this place!", exclaimed Zack as he put both arms around his friends shoulders and laughed a little.

"Easy there, big guy, we still gotta wait for the two hopeless romantics", stated Rocky in a joking tone, referring to...well, you already know. He scouted the area for the Dino Rangers, and frowned upon not seeing them anywhere. "Where's the Dino Rangers? I thought they wanted to hear the story as much as we did?"

"Oh, Kim had them take Nevaeh out around Reefside for a bit, get her out and about, show her around the place and get to know some kids who were practically her age", said Aisha, stepping into the crowd of people, drink in hand and confidence in her facial expressions.

"Hmm. You'd think they would try and weasel their way out of it and convince Kim into letting them stay around to hear the story", murmured Adam as he felt Tanya loop her arm around his and rest her head on his shoulder.

"Well, do you really think she'd want her neice to hear about how she became a Power Ranger again? I think Kim would best save that for another time", Billy said informatively, while everyone nodded their heads. "Speaking of which, where are Kim and Tommy?"

A loud smashing noise was heard coming from the left, near the bar, followed by laughing. To the right, a swinging door was heard opening and then closing.

They had gotten their answer.

Tommy came out from the dry storage room rather quickly, a look of pure, grim determination plastered all over his face as his ponytail swung wildly back and forth with each and every step he took. Jason followed, clutching his stomach and laughing hysterically, his face as red as the suit he once donned. Everyone knew that look on his face like the back of their hand; Tommy was showing why he was such a great leader of the Power Rangers all those years ago. But this time it wasn't about being the leader or stepping in at the last moment and saving his teammates and friends from sure danger. It was something far, far more personal, or, to him, important than anything Ranger related at the moment.

No, this was about the person coming out of the women's bathroom.

Kimberly came out with a bit of a skip in her step, that infectious smile on her face as her chocolate brown hair bounced up and down. It was like she had just been injected with hapiness and that nothing was going to take her down, not even the person that she was intending to meet head on for a conversation that was 13 years in the making. A conversation that would hopefully clear everything up so that life could go back to 'normal', whatever that meant for her; Kimberly hadn't known a 'normal' life since her freshman year at Angel Grove High. Looking at her, you'd think that she had won the lottery or something like that.

No, this was about finally getting the ten ton monkey off her chest.

Everyone looked side to side, from Tommy to Kimberly, and thought that an explosion was about to happen right before their eyes. Knowing how those two could get when they got hot and pissed off, World War Power Ranger was about to happen before their very eyes if something wasn't done to prevent it.

_*Beep beep beep beep beep beep*_

"Whew, saved by the beep....wait...", said Adam in a hushed tone as all eyes turned towards Tommy, who's communicator was the one picking up the in-coming message. He looked irritably at his wrist, then gave Kimberly a quick glance before silently cursing to himself, raising his wrist to his mouth to send an out-going message.

"This is Tommy, come in", he said sternly into the communicator, but all he got back was static and crackling for the next few moments before his (and just about everyone else's ears) were split due to the horrific scream they heard coming through. Everyone immidiately began to fear the worst, obviously. "This is Tommy, do you read? Who is this? What's going on!? Do you need help?!"

"Dr. O...", came Kira's frantic voice, followed by a kiya and another scream.

"Kira?! What is going on?! Where are you? Can you hear me at all?!"

"Dr. O.....we need help....."

**AN 2: And that's it! Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it! See ya next time!**


	8. Down

**AN: I'm back! I just want to explain something before I give way to the story. I deeply apologize to those who have read this story and enjoyed it and have had to deal with my crappy timing and the long wait inbetween chapters. I am really trying to work on that. I'm the kind of writer that doesn't get massive parts of each chapter done in a few hours. I get a little bit done here, then some big chunks, but it's inconsistent. For those of you who have stayed and hoped for the new chapter, well, I appreciate your patience. Hopefully you'll continue to stay with it and enjoy it as the story progresses. That's all. Enjoy the story!**

**AN 2: I don't own the Power Rangers. If I did, RPM wouldn't be the last season.**

_"__The drops of rain they fall all over  
This awkward silence makes me crazy  
The glow inside burns light upon her  
I'll try to kiss you if you let me  
(this can't be the end)_

Tidal waves they rip right through me  
Tears from eyes worn cold and sad  
Pick me up now, I need you so bad

Down down down down_  
It gets me so  
Down down down down__  
It gets me so..."_

Kira wished that this hadn't happened today, of all days. No less than ten minutes ago. Everything was fine, she was enjoying herself, she was with her friends, and Miss Hart's niece, Nevaeh, was turning out to be a nice girl. All was well in Reefside on this day. The sun was shining, there was a cool breeze during this day in June, and there was not a thing in the world to complain about. Kira couldn't remember the last time she felt so at ease with everything in her life, the last time being at least before she bonded with her Dino Gem those few years ago. Everything was just so....peaceful.

She was taking a walk in the park with her loving boyfriend, she was surrounded by her two best friends and they were showing around the first Pink Ranger's niece, perhaps the greatest female Power Ranger of all time, around. Nobody was bothering them, they were just coming off speaking to the living legends that were the original eleven Power Rangers (twelve if you count the one that couldn't show, Justin, as he called to say he couldn't make it due to travel issues), and it was just...everything was great. The natural high that she was feeling off of morphing and going into a battle last night again for the first time in ages felt amazing. Watching the Ninjetti Rangers in battle was a sight to see. This was probably the best two day span of Kira's life.

So of course....that meant that the parade was going to get rained on in the form of a horde of Tenga Warriors.

"Did you get a hold of Dr. O or anyone else?!", yelled Conner at the top of his lungs as he fended off a Tenga Warrior, trying his best to keep as much distance between him and Kimberly's niece as humanly possible, but that was starting to become an increasingly harder task by the minute, as more and more Tenga's appeared and began their attack.

"Why don't you just announce their secret to the whole damn world!", shouted Kira as she flipped one of the birds over onto it's back and kicked it in the chest for good measure, before feeling two of them grab at both of her arms and flinging her backwards, where she landed on both feet a few meters away. She quickly glanced over her shoulder to check on Nevaeh and saw that Conner was fending off the horde of Tenga's and protecting her. "Well, I have to give him that....he sure will do anything to protect the girl", she mused as she kicked a Tenga in the knee and whirled back into attack mode.

"I could use some help over here!", Ethan said screaming as he wished, oh how he wished he could morph right here and now so that disposing of these would-be Big Bird's would be so much easier. But revealing his secret to Miss Hart's niece didn't rank high on his to-do list. A blur of white appeared and suddenly the group of Tenga's that Ethan was fighting were now flapping and flailing around on the ground, thanks to Trent's help. "Thanks dude, I owe ya one."

"Don't think anything of it, partner. Now c'mon, Conner needs help fending off these disgusting things", said Trent with a slap on Ethan's shoulder as he ran off in Conner's direction, with Ethan following him closely behind. The two leapt in and began battling the crazed Tenga's as they managed to move the battle away from the tree where Nevaeh was hiding herself, while Kira backflipped in the air and feet first, mere inches away from where their new friend was.

_"What are these things? Why're they attacking Conner, Trent, Ethan and Kira??"_, Nevaeh thought to herself as she surveyed the battle that was raging on between the boys and these ugly purple and black birds. She then felt a hand on her shoulder and instantly began thinking one of those creatures was going to try and hurt her, so she began to let out a scream before the hand that touched her in the first place covered her mouth and muffled her screams, so that any unecessary attention wouldn't be drawn to where she was kneeling. Slightly tilting her head, out of the corner of her eye, Nevaeh saw that it was Kira who was covering her mouth, and nobody else, which relieved her a whole lot.

"Are you alright? Did they hurt you? Do you need any help at all?", Kira asked in rapid fire succession, one right after the other without so much as a breath or stop between them. Nevaeh managed to say no, nodding her head while Kira lets out a sigh of relief, releasing her hand from Nev's mouth, before she lets out another shriek of horror, to which Kira quickly covered her mouth back up with her hand. Kira looked around and saw a bench nearby that they could use for more cover, so the two of them shuffled over there and hid behind it, Kira's hand still covering Nevaeh's mouth as tightly as possible.

"Nevaeh, I need you to promise me one thing. You can't scream. I know that you are scared right now, and believe me, you aren't alone, but you can't scream again, alright?", Kira asked very sternly while Nevaeh's eyes told a story of pure fear, but she nodded her head again in response, to which Kira released her hand. Meanwhile, the boys were doing their best to hold off the Tenga's until help (which hopefully consisted of six multi colored superheroes in ninja garb getting their asses here as quickly as possible) arrived. Conner deflected a blow that was aimed towards his head and grabbed the feathery arm of the Tenga, spinning around behind it, twisting it's arm before flipping it up and over onto it's back, before three of them swarmed him and drew him away from Ethan and Trent, who were having a hard time themselves in fighting these damn birds.

"There's too many of them to fight off on our own! What're we gonna do!?", Ethan yelled at Trent, who barely ducked under a flying kick from one of them.

"We have to keep trying to hold them off until...some form of help arrives!", Trent said right back as he blocked a jab and landed one of his own to the beak of a Tenga.

"I wish we had help", Kira said softly as she cradled Nevaeh in her arm. "This isn't looking good at all."

"Don't worry, Kira. Help will be on the way", Nevaeh muttered while Kira whirled her head to face the little girl and give her a skeptical look.

"What do you mean, help will be on the way?", Kira said, fearing for her life and secret identity, thinking that she had found out that she and the boys were the Dino Rangers, or even worse, that Dr. O and everyone else that was at Hayley's were the first Power Rangers of Earth. She could only hope...

"I was reading on the internet back at Hayley's, that Reefside was home to one of the most recent Power Ranger teams over the past five years. Surely they all still live here, right? So, in theory, they should be here to come and help us!"

Kira stared at Nevaeh and felt utterly dumbfounded, at a complete loss for words. Either she knew something, or she was onto their trail. Right now, she just nodded her head and turned to watch the boys as they continued to battle, waiting for their multi colored help to arrive. Either way Kira looked at things, it was going to be fun making up new excuses to cover for her Ranger duties again.

And to think that everything started off so peacefully......

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"What's wrong with Kira?"

"Are Conner, Ethan and Trent alright?"

"Who attacked them?"

"Where are they?"

"Is my niece going to be okay?"

"Enough already!!!"

Ever since he ended communication with Kira, who, by the sound of it, was in some deep shit along with the boys and..._her_ niece, Tommy's head was spinning like a ferris wheel, only faster and with added violence. He didn't miss this part of being the leader, he really didn't. Sure, he had lived the part of fearless leader for many, many years and he thrived off of it, succeeded in it, and became who he was today because of being the leader, but after being away for so many years....it was all new to him again. It was like trying to ride a bike after not riding one for a few months; the re-learning process was taking effect immidiately. And to think, he wasn't even morphed or facing down a monster right now....

"Alright, if you didn't just hear that, the Dino Rangers are under attack somewhere here in Reefside. By what, I don't know yet. But they need our help. I'll give Alpha...", Tommy said before he was cut off by Katherine in the middle of his sentence.

"Alpha? _What?!_ He's still alive? Where is he?", she said hurridly, expressing shock and happiness at the same time, while Trini, Jason, Zack, and Tanya all looked amazed that the little robot was still existing, while Hayley stood back and took this all in, hoping to find a spot where she could interject and not feel out of place as the original Power Rangers and their discussion raged on over the robot in question.

"He's at the Command Center, Kat...", Tommy spoke before he was once more cut off, raising his ire even more, this time the cutting off done by Zack (who else would it be done by?)

"What the hell do you **mean** he's back at the Command Center?! The old Command Center was blown up years ago! Both that and the Power Chamber were destroyed! When the hell were you gonna tell us this, man?", Zack stated, irritated that this information had been witheld from them all, when they should have the right to know about these things. Before Tommy flipped his lid, Adam, trying to make sure that nobody got murdered and green bolts of energy were let loose from his leader's eyes like Cyclops, stepped in and began to elaborate on everything.

"Guys, we were going to tell you that later when we told the story. Guess some things just can't wait to come out though, huh? It was supposed to be a surprise, but..."

"Surprise?", Aisha said with a bit of an apologetic grin on her face as she held her hands up and shrugged her shoulders while everyone that didn't have the power in their possession looked at the six of them incredulously, before the realization that the Dino Rangers and Kimberly's niece were in imminent danger sunk in again.

"Alright guys, look, this is what we need to do. We need to...", Tommy said before...

_*Beep beep beep beep beep beep*_

Tommy's eye twitched, his jaw tightly clenched shut before letting out a deeply emphatic sigh that basically said "This is rediculous" ; was he ever going to get a word in edgewise at this rate?

"Rangers, come in Power Rangers!" rang Alpha's robotic voice over the communicators they proudly wore again on their wrists. "Rangers, do you read?!"

"We read you loud and clear, Alpha", Rocky spoke tensely, deciding that it'd be best to start the sliding back into his role as second in command and also seeing that Tommy looked like he was about to start ripping his hair out at any moment. He gave his leader in white a sympathetic look, but got nothing in words or facial expressions for a response from him, so he just decided that it'd be best to leave him be for the moment and deal with this himself. And besides...

Rocky always did like playing the role of leader. Whenever he got the chance, that is.

"Oh thank goodness you're there Rocky, I was beginning to think that none of you would answer!", the robot chimed in as Rocky and the rest of the gang could hear the alarms going off in the background, followed by Alpha's feet shuffling across the floor from panel to panel.

"We're all here, Alpha. What's the deal? What's going on?", he asked, quickly glancing around to see his teammates, all of whom were giving off one of two emotions; nervousness or anticipation. Tommy's eye was still twitching as Billy put a calming hand on his friend's shoulder. Adam had his hands dug deep into his pockets and stared at the floor absently. Aisha was doing some wierd deep breathing thing she always used to do when they got the call to go into action back in the day. Old habits die hard, huh? And Kimberly had this worried look on her face, chewing on her lip as she wrapped her arms around her waist protectively, while Jason and everyone else took a backseat, looking on as the events transpired.

Rocky couldn't help but look at Kimberly again, the look on her face, the way she was holding herself, her emotions present; it was something Rocky had seen years before, whenever his own mother had gotten worried about him. _"The look of a distraught mom. God, I feel so bad for Kim right now"_, Rocky thought to himself as he pushed them into the back of his head and re-focussed on what Alpha had to say.

"...and they're in Reefside Park!", was all he managed to catch as Alpha finished shrieking.

"Sorry Alpha. Who's in Reefside Park and what exactly is going on there? I got uh...I got lost in thought for a second", he admitted somewhat shamefully as everyone around him gave him a reprimanding look, like he should be paying attention to everything Alpha had to say. Eh....oh well. He could just blame it on having to get re-adjusted to the whole 'being a super hero and saving the world' spiel later on.

"The Dino Rangers! Lord Zedd sent down a whole bunch of Tenga Warriors and had them ambush the kids in Reefside Park! And they've got a civilian with him too! Ay yi yi yi yi!", he shrieked as he pounded some buttons on a panel and watched the images come up on the Viewing Globe.

"Where exactly in the park are they?", Rocky said, suddenly getting serious with this situation as he caught a glimpse of Kim in his peripherals and saw almost all of the color drain from her face with the knowledge that her own flesh and blood was in the line of fire now. The Dino Rangers, he wasn't as concerned about; they knew the danger of being a Power Ranger and he was sure that they were doing their best to keep the situation under control. But Kim's daughter...that was another story.

"They're near the jungle gym and swing sets. Get ready to teleport, Rangers!", Alpha said before cutting the line, leaving the six of them to their racing thoughts and pounding hearts; last night was just merely a warm up. Now this was the real deal.

"Alright guys, you heard him. Are you ready to do this?", Rocky asked in his best leader tone, looking to each of his teammates for a silent response or a nod of the head. Adam looked up and gave a curt nod. Aisha let out a deep breath and mouthed "Yeah." Billy replied with his usual "Affirmative" response, while Kimberly slowly nodded her head, fearing for the safety of Nevaeh._ "If he they knew....hell, if only he knew"_, Rocky thought as he looked to Tommy, who had somewhat calmed down now, for his answer.

"You up for a fight, man?"

Tommy stared at him fiercly for a moment, before slowly turning his head to look his four other teammates in the eye, as if it were some sort of test to see if they were, indeed, ready for this moment. After a few seconds, he turned his gaze back to Rocky and then suddenly cracked his neck, causing Billy to cringe, removing his hand from his friend's shoulder.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be", was Tommy's answer as he turned around to face Jason and everyone else that was occupying Hayley's at the moment. "I'm sorry that we have to get called into duty right now. We'll try to bring the kids as quickly and as safely as possible. For now, however, just sit tight and pray for us", he said sharply as everyone nodded their heads and gave them their blessings.

"I think that I speak for everyone here when I say that you know that we'll all be there with you in spirit, bro. Go kick some ass and bring the kids back in one piece", Jason said to Tommy, extending his fist out to his best friend, with Tommy pounding it with his own fist before turning on his heel and making his way to the front of the group. Turning his head ever so slightly to face the five friends in which he found himself synonymous with for quite some time, he asked them one, simple question. The same question they had been asked last night.

"Are you ready?"

"Hell yeah!", Adam exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air.

"You know me, boy", Aisha said with a grin on her face.

"I certaintly am prepared for this", Billy said calmly.

"You know how I roll man", Rocky said, nodding his head.

"What about you....Kimberly?", Tommy said in a voice that sounded as if he forced the name 'Kimberly' out against his will.

"I just want to bring my niece back safely", she murmured softly without making eye contact with the man in white, her eyes fixated on the ground, her head hung low.

"Don't worry girl, we'll make sure she's alright", Aisha said, placing a comforting hand on Kim's shoulder.

"Okay then, that settles it. Get ready, everyone. Last night was nothing. This is the real test", Tommy said as he turned back to face the stage, his hands twitching with excitement at the chance to lead the team into morphing after so many years.

"Ready!?"

"Ready!"

"Alright then....**NINJA RANGER POWER, NOW!**"

The six heroes made the necessary hand motion, waving their arms and hands in a semi-circle before thrusting them forward, one hand on top of the other, the thumbs and pinkie fingers on both hands extended as six different colored flashes of light and energy emitted from their fingers, before finding themselves adorned in their Ninjetti suits once more. They didn't have much time to admire them as they soon found themselves being teleported out of Hayley's to Reefside Park to save the kids. Silence fell over the room as everyone left looked at the spot in which their friends had been mere seconds ago in awe, eyes wide and mouths agape. Finally, Zack decided to break the silence with some of his infamous wit.

"I feel like I've just watched Jesus being born", he said with that ever-present grin on his face, getting laughs from everyone around him.

"You know, despite having done it before, having held the Great Power and that of the Ninjetti, it feels wierd watching it, knowing that that was me at one point. It's still as cool as ever, though", added Katherine as she rubbed the back of her neck and began to reminisce about those days, so long ago.

"Hey, speaking of which, what was it like to be a Ninjetti, Kat?", Trini asked inquisitively, her eyebrow arched as she, probably much like everyone else, was genuinely intrigued to find out what the Great Power was like to hold and to have as a protecting force in your life. Kat let out a small chuckle followed up by a grin as she bit her lip and raised an eyebrow of her own, letting out a sigh as she began to put her thoughts into words about her time spent as the Pink Ninjetti Ranger.

"Well, I can honestly say that...wait, Hayley, if you don't mind, I have a question that I'd like to ask myself before I say anything", she said suddenly while everyone turned to face Hayley, who had been doing a good job of keeping herself hidden amongst everyone, trying to soak in as much info as she could.

"Yes, Katherine? What can I do for you?", she asked, smiling as she put a glass that she was cleaning down on the bar and threw the rag over her shoulder, into the sink.

"Is there any way you can keep a watch on Tommy and the rest of the gang?", she asked seriously as that thought began to dawn on everyone else in the room as well that God forbid something happened, they would be able to know about it and try to help out in any way, shape or form possible.

"Yes, I had a tracking device planted in Tommy's old wrist bracelet, the one that he wore when he was a Dino Ranger, long ago. It's a good thing you brought that up, Katherine, as I would have totally forgotten about that. Thank you for reminding me, I'll go bring up the program on my computer. I'll be right back", Hayley murmured as she turned around and walked into her office to begin the lookout on Tommy and the rest of the Power Rangers, leaving Katherine to her explanation of what it was like being a Ninjetti.

"So what was it like? Being the Crane and all, that is", Trini asked her as Katherine motioned for everyone to sit down around the stage while she sat, legs crossed and fingers entangled together as she began to spill the beans.

"It was like nothing I've ever felt before. I can honestly say that I enjoyed being a Ninjetti more than I enjoyed my Zeo and Turbo powers. I mean, don't get me wrong, I absolutly loved being a Zeo and Turbo Ranger, but being the Crane, the Ninjetti....it was just....amazing", she started as her legs slowly swung back and forth, her audience of former Power Rangers captivated by the words she was speaking. "I remember, the day that Kimberly announced me as her successor, I was feeling so nervous about everything; why I had been chosen to basically kill off the Power Rangers, why Kim and all of them had forgiven me so easily, basically, why was this all happening to little ol' me, Katherine Hillard, a quiet gal from Australia? It just made no sense at the time. But that talk with Kim....well, I'll tell you about it...."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

It was a sparkling, airy day. The birds were chirping, the sky was as blue as it had ever been...it' was the stereotypical 'perfect day'. Katherine Hillard didn't think it was so perfect, though. If anything, the past two and a half months of her life were pure hell in the figurative and literal sense. Everything that had happened over those two and a half months was a direct (or indirect, in some cases) result of her showing up in Angel Grove as a new student at Angel Grove High. All she wanted to do was just go back home to Australia and pretend that Angel Grove, California didn't exist. She wanted her normal life back, she wanted her normal friends back, but most importantly, more than anything else, she wanted her normal home back. Nothing had worked out in her favor ever since she came to America, and there were times where she felt like crawling into a hole and just laying there for the rest of her sad existance while the rest of the world passed her by without so much as a batted eyelash.

As she paced back and forth, up and down, left to right, around and about the empty outside deck of Ernie's Juice Bar, she stopped for a second to check her watch, only to let out a frustrated sigh as she continued her pacing. It was eleven in the morning and she felt like a bit of a fool (which was nothing new to her at this point) standing out here, knowing damn well that Ernie didn't open shop for another hour, seeing as today was Sunday. She looked around at her surroundings and saw nothing out of the ordinary; empty parking lot, empty deck, empty chairs and a sky devoid of clouds. Rolling her eyes before taking a deep breath, she grabbed one of the chairs and set it up, sitting down with her elbows on her legs, propping her arms up as she entangled her fingers and used her hands to hold her chin up. She had been waiting here for a half hour for this 'top secret meeting', and so far, all she had been waiting on was a bunch of dead space, empty air and unspoken words.

"I can't believe that I'm just sitting here, waiting for someone that'll probably not come at all. Why am I even doing this?", Katherine said aloud to herself, figuring she was okay to do so as long as she was still her by herself. "Because you made a promise, Kat, and it's a promise that you are going to uphold", she said, answering her own question while engaging in an animated conversation with herself.

"You've been stood up, Hillard. Face it. This isn't going to happen. You might as well just go home."

"I'm not going home until I've had this meeeting and discussed what needs to be discussed, alright?"

"You're wasting your time."

"You're starting to agitate me."

While this went on, Katherine didn't hear (or happen to notice) the strange, staticky sound directly behind her, a flash of pink light revealing a petite brunette with her long, chocolate brown hair tied back into a ponytail, dressed in a simple, yet elegant white & pink sundress, nervously playing with her fingers as she listened to Kat's conversation with herself, amused that it was as heated as it was. Waiting to find her chance to interject, she found it as Kat took a moment to breathe and made her voice known.

"And I thought Rocky was the crazy one."

Kat jumped at the sound of Kimberly's voice, springing up from her seat and quickly spinning around on her heel, only to find the giggling Pink Power Ranger there as she held her hand over her mouth to stop from laughing herself to death, while Kat's face turned a slight shade of red, being a little bit embarassed from being spooked when she had no reason to be. But could you blame her? Kimberly had said that this was, as Kat said to herself before, top secret and she had been on edge all day yesterday into this morning, and to say that wanting to know what Kimberly had to tell her today was eating her alive would be a gross understatement. She had a small feeling about what this meant and what would happen as a result of this meeting, but Kat didn't want to believe or even, oddly enough as it sounds, get her hopes up for something that might never materialize.

By now, Kimberly had stopped her mad giggling as she stepped forward and gave the much taller Katherine a big, warm hug that neither girl let go of for the next minute, the silence and the togetherness doing all of the talking at that moment. The two then let go and sat down at one of the various tables scattered around the deck, sitting across from each other but not saying anything, neither of them finding the right thing to say or the appropriate time to actually speak. The two fumbled around with their words for a few more moments before Katherine finally found her tongue and mustered the courage to speak.

"For the record, Kim, I just want to get this off my chest, but whatever you have to say and tell me today, I will be able to live and deal with for the rest of my life. I just cannot thank you enough for--", but she was cut off by Kimberly waving her hand and shaking her head.

"You don't need to thank me or anyone else for anything, Kat. It's us who should thank you. I practically owe you my life for calling 911 when I hit my head on the beam. If anyone should be thanking anyone, it's me thanking you", she said, reaching across the table and putting her hand on top of Katherine's and holding it for a few seconds, smiling in her direction before letting go. That was the truth. If it weren't for Kat's big heart, if it weren't for her breaking the spell and calling 911 to get an ambulance for her...what would have happened? That was something Kimberly didn't want to think about, but it lingered here and there. Thankfully, Kat came through and became a great friend to all of the gang.

"Kimberly, you've been too kind to me ever since I came here to Angel Grove. Even when I was under Rita's spell, you had nothing but nice things to say to me and went out of your way to make me feel welcome amongst you and your friends. I don't know what I'd be doing if it weren't for your kindness and friendliness."

"You'd probably still be trying to kill me and steal more than just the Falconzord", Kim joked as the two girls broke out into a short fit of laughter over the joke, an obvious reference to what Kat did when she was under Rita's evil spell and did her and Zedd's bidding as their own personal 'kitty cat'. As the laughter soon subsided, the two thought to themselves that they might as well get down to business and discuss the meaning behind this 'top secret' meeting.

"Alright, I think it'd be best if we got crackin' on what I wanted to talk to you about then, eh?", Kimberly said as Kat nodded her head in agreement and leaned into the table, very interested in what was needed to be said, but at the same time, also very nervous about it as well. Katherine didn't know what to expect, but she was bracing herself for the best...or worst. Whichever she got, however, she would be ready to deal with aptly and cope before moving on from this meeting with a clear mind and her head held high.

"Yes, I'd be inclined to agree. I'm sorry for sounding so forward, Kimberly, but....what is it exactly that you want to talk to me about? And why is it so secretive?", she asked slowly, trying not to jumble up her words so that she sounded like a proper junior in high school, not a five year old.

"Whoo...alright, here goes", Kim began as she took a deep breath and exhaled, letting a deep sigh out as she fixed her ponytail and pushed loose strands of hair out of her eyes and behind her ears, trying to put her many emotions into one, big coherent thought, and with that thought, turn it into a sentence that didn't sound too incredibly farfetched or off the wall. "What I'm about to tell you is something that I have been thinking about long and hard for the past week. I have come up with many different scenarios in my head, and I have come to grips with every single one of them. My mind is made right now, but that doesn't mean I won't change it if I feel that it needs to be changed. Nobody but Alpha and now you knows about this, not even Tommy. This is probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life so far, but I feel that it is for the absolute best of everyone. Basically what I'm asking you, Kat....is--"

"If I would consider becoming the Pink Ranger and taking your spot while you went to go further your training for the Pan Globals", Katherine finished. Kimberly's eyes widened, recoiling her head back a little, as she definatly did not see that coming from anywhere. How did Katherine figure it out, let alone figure it out that easy? Did she know beforehand? Kimberly made a mental note to give Alpha a stern talking to if him spilling the beans to Katherine was indeed the case. Did she already have an answer? So many questions raced through Kimberly's head that she almost forgot to even ask them, she was so stunned by this. "How did you know I was going to ask you that? Did Alpha tell you anything? Because if he did, he's so going to hear it from me", Kim near whispered as she continued to think everything out in her head while Katherine gave her response.

"No, Kim, you don't need to worry about getting upset with Alpha. Bless his little robotic soul, but he didn't tell me anything about you wanting to transfer your power over to me. I kind of had a feeling that you would ask me, it had been swimming around in the back of my head for a while...and I guess my suspicions were correct, however small those suspicions were", Katherine said softly as she gave Kimberly a reassuring smile and patted her hand, while Kim tried to comprehend this all.

"I apologize if I seem shocked or if I'm acting like a total goof right now, Kat...it's just, um...wow. I didn't think you had it figured out like this, to be perfectly honest with you. I kind of wanted to surprise you with it. You know, see how you'd react without having known all along...", Kimberly said as her voice trailed off and she began to gaze at the skies, feeling a little stupid for having called this little secret meeting if the surprise factor was taken out within the first few minutes. But she should have known better, she reasoned; Katherine was no dummy by any stretch of the imagination, and the fact that she found out what Kimberly wanted to do proved that theory correct. Kimberly had half a mind to just excuse herself and teleport away, feeling a bit ashamed as well. But that wasn't who Kimberly was, and that wasn't what she was about to become, either. She was going to stick it through this meeting and just see what Katherine had to say about her proposal.

"Kim, it's ok, you don't need to feel stupid about anything. You aren't acting like a goof, either. If anyone should be acting like a goof, it should be me. I mean, how often is it that you get an invitation to become the Pink Power Ranger? Once, maybe twice in a lifetime, if your lucky, if ever at all. And even I didn't think I was that lucky", Kat admitted to her friend, as she now began the doubting process of whether she would ever be a suitable replacement for Kimberly. I mean, was that even possible? She was the first ever Pink Ranger for the first chosen protectors of the planet Earth. The first. Right then and there, she was considered legendary before even morphing or using a Zord for the first time. Could Katherine ever hope to fill in admirably? Could she handle the pressure that came with being not only the Pink Ranger, but a protector of Earth for Zordon? For a quiet girl from Australia, this certaintly wasn't how Kat envisioned her life being, all topsy turvy and going a million miles an hour.

As Kim giggled at Kat's little joke, she began to weigh the pros and cons of being a Power Ranger. The pros were fairly obvious. Become a super hero. Make awesome new friends. Wear the cool pink spandex. Pilot the Crane Ninjazord. Ride that awesome Shark Cycle. Save the world. Teleport. Get closer to Tommy...no! Bad Katherine! Sure, she was obviously attracted to the White Ranger and leader of the team (who wouldn't be?) But Kat had accepted a while back that while being with Tommy would be amazing (despite him being as dense as a brick and having a swiss cheese memory), he was with Kimberly and from what she had saw, the bond that the two of them shared with one another was deep and unbreakable. It was like their relationship was straight out of a fairy tale. The two of them were perfect for each other.

The cons? Those were pretty visible too. Live every day knowing that you're a walking target for Zedd, Rita and lord knows what other evil forces the universe held. Give up a lot of your social life in favor of having to save the world. Get a crash course in karate and not make a total fool out of yourself. Lie to your parents about Ranger related duty. Learn to pilot a Zord. Learn to ride a motorcycle. Hope and pray that morphing doesn't completely mess up your DNA and turn you into some mutant freak. Hope the others, the more experienced (specifically, Tommy and Billy) accept you with open and welcome arms as Kim's successor. Juggling a job, school and Ranger duties all at once. Hoping to not disappoint Zordon and Alpha with growing pains.

What would Kat do? Could she possibly take that big risk -- jump off the high dive again, and take on the responsibility of being the Pink Ranger and filling Kimberly's shoes? Or would it be wise for her to politely decline Kimberly's offer, seeing as Kim was cut out for it and had years of practice working in her favor. That way, she could not feel bad about turning Kim's offer down and walk away and lead a normal life here in Angel Grove, something that seemed to be slipping away from her with each passing second. Decisions, decisions....

"I know exactly how you feel. You can ask Billy this, he'll support it, but when I was first asked, though I didn't show it, deep down inside, I felt like a little girl again, getting to go on her first pony ride or picking my first flower, I don't know. All I felt was shock, honor and giddiness. Though on the outside, I like, totally blew it off and thought it was so totally the most rediculous thing ever", Kim said with a laugh, channeling the old inner valley girl persona she had in her earlier days as a Ranger. "I even remember complaining about my hair after our first battle against Goldar with the original Megazord. I told Zordon, Alpha and the gang that I couldn't do it because my hair got all tangled and messed up in the helmet. I played them so bad but then I was just like...not! Of course I'll do it! Alpha then briefly short circuited", she stated as the girls again broke into tiny fits of laughter. "Man, those were the days. I'll cherish them for as long as I live."

"I don't doubt that you will, Kimberly. Doing something as special and breath-taking like this for as long as you have, I'm sure that every moment you and your friends, not to mention Tommy, have spent together is permanently engrained in your head. It's something I envy, but just a little bit", Kat spoke with a grin on her face as she brushed away a loose strand of her blonde hair, winking at Kim.

"Just a little bit?", she asked.

"Just a little bit. I promise. And that's my mind speaking, not some evil spell made up by Rita", she said calmly.

"I'll hold you to that, Kat", Kimberly said, faking a menacing tone of voice while playfully wagging her finger in her blonde friend's direction.

"I would hope that you would."

"So what do you say, Kitty Kat? Do you accept my offer to become the bearer of the Great Power, to be a Ninjetti, and to immerse yourself with the Crane?", Kim now asked seriously, propping her elbows on the table and holding her chin up with her hands. "The decision is yours and only yours."

Could Katherine really be selfish and say no, denying Kimberly her dream to train for and compete in the Pan Globals? Could she really shoot down someone she considered a friend, her first real friend she made since moving to America, a girl who had done so much for her in such a short amount of time and showed her so much kindness and tenderness? Could she really just spurn her offer and choose to live a normal life, free of monsters, giant robots and spandex?

No. This was the opportunity of a lifetime, and she was going to take it by the horns. She was going to let Kim chase her ambitions. She was going to do this. And she was going to have help and a little bit of faith on her side.

So no. She couldn't be that girl. It would break Kim's heart. And she wanted to repay her. This was the best way of doing so.

"Yes."

At first, Kim didn't believe that Katherine had agreed to the transfer of power. Her eyes grew large, her lips pursed tightly shut as she played with one of her loose brown tresses of hair. Did she really say yes? This was too good to be true.

"What did you say?", Kimberly said in a near whisper.

"I said yes, Kim. I'll do it. You deserve a chance to live your dream. I won't deny you that. And besides, it's the least I could do for nearly killing you."

Kimberly jumped from her seat and let out a loud squeal of excitement as she practically leaped into Katherine's arms and gave her a hug, as big a hug as her tiny body could give the much taller Aussie. She even began to feel a tear or two roll down her cheek, she was so happy and overwhelmed with emotion.

"Kat, you don't know how happy you've just made me. I thought you'd never say yes! Oh, this is so great! I have to tell Alpha now!", Kim near-yelled as the two girls let go of their embrace and held hands as Katherine gave her that charming smile that she gave everyone. She was glad she could make her happy.

"Anything for a friend", Kat spoke as she felt the need to hug Kimberly again, and so she did.

"This is it. The end of my run. It's been the best time of my life....and I'll never forget what being a Power Ranger has taught me. But now, the power is all yours. Are you ready to accept it?"

Any last, small doubts that Kat had about becoming the Pink Ranger went out the window when she saw the exuberant smile on Kimberly's face and the glow of the sun off the Pink Ninja Coin that Kimberly currently held in her palm. She had to do this; who didn't want to be a Power Ranger? Her decision was final.

"Yes, I am ready to accept it. I'll have Tommy, Billy, Rocky, Aisha and Adam along to show me the way, as well as Zordon and Alpha. I am ready to become the Pink Power Ranger."

Kimberly put the coin away for the time being and gave Katherine another tight embrace as she wrapped her arms around her friend's neck and didn't feel like letting go.

"Thank you, Katherine", Kim whispered in her ear. "You don't know how much this means to me. I am forever in debt to you."

"You are more than welcome, Kimberly", Kat whispered back. "And don't think you are. Everyone deserves a chance to live out their dreams. I just want to see you live out yours."

It was a sparkling, airy day. The birds were chirping, the sky was as blue as it's ever been...it's the stereotypical 'perfect day'.

And Katherine Hillard liked it just the way it was.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"So that's the story behind how I became the Pink Ranger when Kimberly left for Florida."

Everyone stared at Katherine in amazement, many mouths hung open and many heads being scratched, quizzical looks abound, except for Hayley, who was on her master laptop, trying to bring up vizualization of the newly re-minted Ninja Rangers and their battle, while also trying to get the Dino Rangers out of hot water. Nobody knew what to think as Kat sat on the edge of the stage and stared out at her friends and fiancé, all of them still silent.

"What? Nobody has anything to say?", said with a hint of laughter behind her voice as everyone around her struggled to find the words to say, the only sound being heard was that of Hayley's occasional groans and her fingers rapidly tapping on her keyboard. After what seemed like a solid ten minutes of silence, Jason was the first one to find his voice.

"Wait a second here, Kat. Kimberly was actually...happy? Because the way I remember it--" he went to say before his fiancée cut him off.

"She was happy, at first. I mean, who wouldn't be happy to go and chase their dream? She was certaintly estatic at the fact that I had agreed to take over so she could go to Florida. But there's a second part to the story", she said calmly as she fixed her skirt and crossed her leg over the other on stage.

"What do you mean, at first? I thought that there was only one part to this entire story. What happened after you two talked at Ernie's?", asked Tanya, seemingly finding the question to ask that nobody else could at that moment.

"It's exactly what it stands for, sweetie", Kat started, motioning with her head at Tanya in response to her question. "And what happened is what I thought would of happened when the two of us originally talked. Kimberly's doubts began to set in, began to sink deep within her mind. They played games with her emotions, like they would anyone else in her situation. She called me back and met up with me, nearly on the edge of a nervous breakdown, trying to get me to convince her that she should stay, that she should continue to be a Power Ranger. She had three serious doubts about the entire situation", Katherine said as her eyes wandered around the entire room, each and every face as it was before, riddled with confusion and trying to grasp at what the former Pink Zeo Ranger was talking about. Oh, the problems of not being on the team for as long as someone like Katherine was...

"What were those three doubts?", piped up Zack as he half raised his hand before quickly lowering it, the look of concerned intrigue still written across his facial features like a newspaper editorial. Come to think of it, everyone had that look on their face as Katherine took a deep breath and dived even deeper into the pool, so to speak.

"The first one was whether or not the gang at the time would fully accept me as her replacement as the Pink Ranger. Accepting me as a friend was no problem at all. It was the passing of the coin that had her spooked. I mean, let's face it. If you ask any Power Ranger from any team, past, present or future in Time Force's case, what they think when they hear the words 'Pink Ranger', ten times out of ten, they automatically say Kimberly's name. I will be the first to admit that next to Tommy, Kim's probably the best Ranger alive. I'm not ashamed to say that either. Sure, I've gotten crap for it from Goldie and Sabertooth over here", Kat said pointing with her thumb to Jason and Trini, chuckles going around the room as the two of them nodded their heads and grinned together. "But I stand by that. She was the first Pink, she's the most legendary female Ranger, and the things she did while wearing the costume are still spoken about, even with the newest teams that pop up. Anyone who saw what she did last night is proof enough. So she thought that by handing down her legacy to me, she thought that Tommy and them wouldn't accept me, that they'd hold me to a high standard, higher than when she was wearing the costume. But that was only the beginning of her doubts."

"Then what were the other two doubts?", asked Tanya, while Jason and Trini looked at each other, practically knowing them by heart, while Zack scratched his head and tried to understand everything that was being said so that he could have a better grasp on it, which was proving harder by the second.

"No offense to you Tanya, but anyone who's known Kimberly for as long as they have knows what they were. The second one was that she was afraid to leave behind a comfortable life, the only life she knew in Angel Grove, leave her friends behind, to go somewhere different, where she'd be alone and cut off from the Rangers. She was terrified of leaving. She felt like not having Zordon, who was practically Kim's father figure, in her life would leave her without a clue as to what to do. Lost and misguided without his advice and calming reassurance that everything would be fine. And everyone knows what the last reason was. It was the most important."

"She was terrified of leaving Tommy behind", said Trini softly as everyone, including Hayley, who took a second to stare at the first Yellow Ranger before going back to bringing up an image of the fight in the park, glanced her way while it dawned on them. Silence overtook the room again as that last sentence weighed heavily on their minds. Despite all nine of them (including Rocky, Billy, Aisha and Adam) never being on the same team with certain members, they all had stories or heard of stories about the times that the two most beloved Rangers in lore spent together, the love they shared....everything.

"I remember the time...where Tommy was re-introduced to the team as the White Ranger back at the old Command Center", Jason started to say as the silence was broken and everyone turned to face him as he recalled this special memory of his two best friends in life. "He came down from the ceiling, a big white light covering him and his descent. Me, Zack, Billy and Trini were all wondering who it could be, but Kimberly knew. She just knew in her heart of hearts that the boy under that helmet was Tommy. She thought that it would be unfair to give someone else those new powers when Tommy had already worn green and saved all five of our asses countless times before that bastard Zedd took the dragon away from him and from us. The rest of us though, we were skeptical. We wanted to believe that it'd be him, but we didn't feel too comfortable making that prediction."

"But then he came down from the ceiling, and boy, were we left hanging in suspense or what?", said Zack rhetorically as he looked to Trini and Jason, who both nodded their heads approvingly. "You should have seen Kim when he touched the ground. You could practically hear her heart thumping inside her chest, that's how much it was racing. She was nervous that it wouldn't be Tommy, when at that time, she desperately wanted...rather, needed him back in her life."

"Desperately doesn't even scratch the surface", Trini interjected. "It was to the point where he had been gone from us, and more importantly, from her again, for so long that if Kimberly didn't see him right then and there, she'd of lost it and descended into a deep, spiraling depression. He was her life, basically. He made her feel like the most special girl in the world. What Tommy lacked back then in common sense, time management and remembering things, he made up for in two ways; the way he led the team and how he loved Kimberly. He held onto her every day like it'd be the last day she was going to be on Earth. He lived for her, and she lived for him. They were, and still are in my opinion, the cutest, most adorable couple that I have or ever will see. No offense to those that are currently together", she murmured as she looked at Tanya and Kat, who both understood what Trini was saying.

"So when Zordon announced that it was time to meet the newest member and new leader of the Power Rangers, the five of us collectively held our breath. When Tommy unlatched the helmet straps and took the helmet off to reveal his face, we all felt like a weight had been lifted off our shoulders. We were so estatic to have him back. But Kim? She couldn't believe it was him. She fainted. I remember just thinking that it was typical Kim, and in a sense, it was. But her fainting felt like it was right out of a fairy tale almost. We were all glad to have him back on the team and in our lives. And then the moment that really, truly defined the love that the two of them shared, at least in my mind, was when Tommy went over to her and knelt beside her body. He used his pet name for her in front of us for the first time. Beautiful. She woke up and took one look into his eyes, and then hugged him so tightly that it was like he'd disappear if she didn't. The pet name and the hug was what really had me saying to myself, "Wow. These two are gonna be together forever." It was one of the best moments I've ever seen during my tenure as a Ranger. Not many things come close to that moment shared between my two best friends", Jason said softly as Trini and Zack smiled fondly at the memory of that day. The three of them and Billy had dubbed it,"The Day That Kim's White Knight Returned." Katherine and Tanya were both seen wiping away a tear from their eyes, the sheer beauty of the moment causing the waterworks to come forth, and even Hayley was smiling when she wasn't buried in her work. But then the warmth and togetherness of the moment was brought to a screeching halt as Hayley's computer began to make wierd noises and an alarm went off, before she faced everyone in the room, doing her best to keep it under control.

"Sorry to interrupt the happy, but I've got something here" Hayley began before she tapped more keys on the computer to try and get it to stop doing whatever it was doing.

"What's the matter, Hayley?", asked Trini as the five of them moved forward towards her and tried to see what was going on.

"I got a lock on the battle."

And now everyone's attention was on the computer screen....

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Hey To...uh,White Ranger! You know what song this battle reminds me of?"

"What, Ro...er, Red Ranger!? What song?"

"Down by blink 182! Because these Tenga's keep goin' down, down, down, down!"

"Are you serious, Ro...Red Ranger?? We're in the middle of a battle and all you can think about is a song that came out six years ago?!"

"Gotta keep a positive mindset, Ki....Pink Ranger!"

"I didn't know the Power Rangers listened to blink 182..."

Nevaeh's words rang in the air like a wind chime as Kira rolled her eyes at her mentor and his friends' banter. Conner, Ethan and Trent had just joined them as they huddled behind a flipped up bench and watched the battle unfold before their very eyes, but they were doing more than just watching. They were studying and observing how Dr. O and his old friends went about handling battles. It was like watching Mozart compose a famous piece, or the Mona Lisa be painted. It was fun to watch. The six Ninjetti Rangers moved around the park majestically, weaving in and out of patches where the Tenga's were, disposing of them rather easily, like it was nothing to them.

"Why couldn't we do this last night?", asked Conner in a whisper, which was met with a slap on the arm from Kira and quick glares from Trent and Ethan, while Nevaeh curiously glanced at Conner and asked the question that was basically written across her face.

"What do you mean, Conner?", she asked in a hushed tone as she clutched Kira's arm, being held tight by her new friend as the battle raged on mere feet from where they were positioned. Was she nervous? Obviously. But the chance to see the Power Rangers, live and in color? She wouldn't pass that up for the world.

"Uhm....", Conner began to say as he looked to his friends, his eyes pleading for them to help him out of this self-induced pickle, but they just smirked and crossed their arms, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of their aid.

"Yes, Conner. What _do_ you mean?", asked Ethan near-menicingly with a grin on his lips while Conner stammered his words out, trying (and nearly failing) to save and preserve their secret identities as the Dino Rangers.

"Um....what I meant was....why couldn't we....uh....why couldn't we.....run into the Power Rangers last night! Yeah, that's it! I was wondering why we couldn't run into the Power Rangers last night! Because you know, there was a big attack on Reefside by some horrible, **HORRIBLE** creatures last night and supposedly the Power Rangers showed up and uh...took care of business! Yeah!", said Conner a little too enthusiastically, so much so, that Trent was trying (and failing miserably) to hide his snickers while Ethan rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the battle. Kira arched an eyebrow in direction of her former leader in red and simply shook her head, thinking to herself,_ "Way to go, McKnight. You've saved the day again."_

"I heard about that on the news last night! I was flipping through the channels and I saw the reports about the Power Rangers returning out of nowhere and defeating the evil! It was soooo cool!", Nevaeh responded excitedly as she clapped her hands a bit, remembering the joy she felt when she saw that news report. "It sucks though, I just wish that my mot--"

"You, over there! Civilians!", yelled the Black Ninjetti Ranger as he raced over towards the table and leaped over it, landing behind them and kneeling so that he could get a good look at their faces. "Are you alright? These creatures didn't harm you, did they?"

"Um...uh...no sir, Mr. Black Power Ranger, sir", said Nevaeh timidly as she momentarily glanced at the man in the black clothed mask and thought that something sounded or looked familiar about him. "We're fine, we've just been watching the battle from this um, safely placed bench that was flipped over", she muttered nervously while Kira decided to interject by clearing her throat rather loudly, so much so that Conner and Trent gave _her_ funny looks.

"Uh, yeah, we're fine! We tried to hold them off but they became too much for the four of us, thank goodness you all showed up and proved why you're the best at what you do!", she said with a big cheesy grin on her face while also giving Adam two thumbs up. Silently, under the hood, Adam was chuckling and grinning, thinking to himself, _"Yep, these are definatly Tommy's kids. Nobody, former Ranger or not, would give a current one a grin that lame."_

"Well then, it's good to see that none of you were harmed. Now go on, get to safety, we'll take care of this", Adam said as he stood up and teleported in the blink of an eye back into the heat of the battle. The boys watched Adam trick one of the Tenga's with his slide teleportation trick, but then turned their attention to Kira, who still had Nevaeh cradled up in her arm, and the three of them gave her a look that basically said, "And you give us crap when we act like that?". Reading their faces, Kira pouted and rolled her eyes. "Oh come off it, don't act like you've never seen me be that way before. If you three can do it so easily, then so can I. Besides, I think I do a better Conner impersonation than Conner does himself", she said as she ignored Conner's reaction and stole a peek at the battle and saw that Dr. O and Billy were currently swinging around and constantly changing positions, before sweeping their foes legs out from underneath them and giving each other an emphatic high five before diving back into action. Adam and Rocky were up to their usual wise-cracking antics while disposing of the Tenga's, making fun of their enormously large beaks and talking about how the purple did nothing for their black feathers, among other things. And finally, Aisha and Kimberly were probably having the most fun out of the six of them, as they were....playing pattycake. Clapping their gloved hands in tune and ducking underneath the swinging Tenga's arms, they lashed out and landed stiff sidekicks to their guts, and to their credit, the two female Rangers kept their game going until the finally finished it off with a backflip into the air, kicking two Tenga's in the back before landing on their feet and cartwheeling back into the fray, while the four Dino Rangers collectively thought one thing as they watched on.

It really **was** a pleasure and absolute honor watching the living legends do their work, however unorthodox it may be.

Soon enough, the battle had come to it's end, and it left one, lone Tenga Warrior in the middle of a multi-colored circle, fearing for his life as the good guys stared him down. Tommy took one step forward and, mimicking this moment from his Turbo days, simply went "Boo!" and the Tenga squealed and flew off, while the six Ninja Rangers all slapped hands and congratulated each other on a well fought battle. Well, almost all of them. Tommy and Kimberly slapped hands with everyone else but themselves, instead just momentarily glancing at each other and nodding their heads, which left the Dino Rangers shaking their heads, while Nevaeh looked on, intrigued to see such interaction between the top male and top female. Standing up and looking in Kira's eyes, she asked a simple question, alas, a simple question that Kira didn't have an answer for at the moment.

"How come the White and Pink Rangers didn't congratulate each other or hug the other?"

"Um....er...that's a good question, Nevaeh...but erm....I don't know.....uhh...."

"Because they got in a fight a long time ago and now they can barely stand the sight of each other!", said Conner, as if almost on cue for a dumb statement, which earned him two horrified, wide eyed looks from Ethan and Trent, and a rather hard punch on his shoulder from Kira, who was restraining herself from doing more damage. The look in her eye told Trent that she was thinking of throwing inhibition to the wind and letting loose her Ptera Scream right there, but he quickly moved to her side and took her by the arm and rubbed her shoulders, soothing her and trying to keep her from blowing their secret while still trying to hide Dr. O's own secret as well. Though he didn't say it aloud, Conner could hear Ethan whispering, _"Keep it up, McKnight. At the rate you're going, she's gonna find out about every Power Ranger known to mankind..."_, but Conner tried his best (and mostly failed again) to understand and listen to his friend in blue's statement, and before he went to explain his utter brain fart (hadn't he had enough of those in the past 24 hours?), Nevaeh unexpectedly spoke and saved them the silence that was sure to hang over them again.

"Oh, really? That's a bummer....I read somewhere that the Pink and White Rangers were really close back during their original run..."

"Yeah, I heard that too....time changes everything, though", says Trent in a relaxing voice as he put his arm around Kira and glanced out at the six of them and saw how far apart Dr. O and Miss Hart were standing from each other.

"My mom had a friend like that...many years ago. Though I don't know if they were just friends. Sometimes I see her looking at an old picture of herself and who I assume is her old friend, and a tear will be rolling down her cheek as she looks at it. She always tells me that it's something in her eye, that she wasn't crying, but I don't know if I believe her all the time. Whenever she talks about it, and that's rare, she says that she's moved on from it and that's all she could have afforded to do, was move on. I've never found out who her old friend was, or what their name is...all I know is that this person must have meant a lot to my mom if I find her crying over them sometimes."

Kira, Ethan, Trent, and even Conner felt their resolves slowly begin to crumble at Nevaeh's words. The poor girl's story made their hearts go out to her, as they glanced at the Power Rangers and saw that they were now heading over their way. But as the ninja's made their way over, a question popped up in Trent's head, and he figured that he would ask the girl about it after Dr. O and the others teleported back to Hayley's. It was a very thought provoking question, but before his thoughts could be advanced any further, he felt a gloved hand on his shoulder and noticed that it was Dr. O himself.

"Are you alright, young man?", his mentor asked in him in his typical concerned leader voice, his eyes burning through the holes on Trent's features, genuinely concerned for the safety of his former student. "We saw you all fighting them, and we just wanted to make sure you were ok. Thank you for doing what you could to prevent any further damage."

Trent snickered but gave his mentor a smile, thinking to himself, _"I'm so gonna get him for the 'young man' crack..."_, before responding, "Yeah, we'll all be fine, it's no problem. We're not the ones to thank though, you should be thanking this one right here", pointing to Nevaeh, her face lighting up, though it was written with unexpectedness. "She didn't once panic and kept her cool throughout the entire ordeal", he said as his eyes trailed towards Kimberly, winking at her, while underneath the mask, Kimberly could be seen beaming, her smile as bright as the sun on any given day. Her little girl was growing up to be a lot like her, and she couldn't be anymore proud of her. She wanted nothing more than to hug her baby, but then again, that wouldn't look very good, now would it? Especially since Rocky was the only one who knew her secret....and well...he was here....he was here...looking at her....was he looking at her? She couldn't tell. She didn't care, at the moment. Her baby girl was maturing at a great rate, and it made Kimberly happy knowing it.

"Really? Is that so? Hm. Well then, if that's the case", Tommy said as he walked over to the girl and extended his hand towards her. "You're a brave girl. What's your name?"

"Um...Nevaeh..", she stammered nervously as she played with her fingers and looked down at the grass before Tommy put his gloved finger underneath her chin and gently lifted her head up so that she faced him eye to eye.

"You did a good thing today, Nevaeh. You didn't lose your cool, and that's what matters. Thank you for being unfearful in the face of evil", he said in his warmest voice possible, but instead of shaking his hand or nodding her head appreciatively, Nevaeh lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Tommy's waist, hugging him as tightly as she could, while Tommy, though shocked at first, welcomed it and put his arms on her back, smiling real big underneath his mask. It legitametly felt like he was bonding with the girl at that moment. Nevermind the fact that she was...._her_ niece. Something about this just felt so right to him, and he almost didn't want to let go of this moment, oddly enough. But after a few seconds, the girl let go and gave him a twinkling smile before stepping back towards Kira. "I'm sorry about that, Mr. White Ranger. It's just...I've always wanted to hug a Power Ranger", she said softly as her cheeks flushed red and she gave a nervous grin, while Kimberly fought the urge to shed a tear and thought to herself, _"If you only knew, baby...if you only knew."_

The Ninjetti Rangers then stepped back into their formation, Tommy in front, with Rocky and Billy to his left, Kimberly, Aisha and Adam to his right. He looked at his 'children' and....her niece, and he found himself smiling under the mask again. He so felt like a father figure right now, it warmed his heart thinking about it. They all looked so nice together. But something about the youngest of them all made Tommy stop and think for a moment. He glanced at Nevaeh up and down underneath his mask, and he studied how she looked and how she acted, general stuff like that. For a moment, he thought a crazy thought; that she reminded him...of himself. But how could that be possible? She was....her niece. There was no way she could remind him of himself if she was of...her flesh and blood. But why did his mind tell him differently? He wanted to ask questions, but yeah, like that wouldn't give away his secret identity. He mentally slapped himself for thinking these thoughts as he nodded at his Dino Rangers and Nevaeh. "Thank you all for your help today. It will not be forgotten."

"Don't mention it!", beamed Ethan.

"Oh, you know, no big deal", murmured Trent.

"It was our pleasure", said Kira.

"No, thank **YOU**!", Conner yelled emphatically.

"You guys...are...um, great...", whispered Nevaeh as she clutched Kira's arm.

"You five are the true heroes today. It does our heart's good knowing that we can depend on civilians like you to aide in our battle against the forces of evil", said Tommy with a duitiful nod of his head before glancing at his fellow teammates, all of whom looked anxious to get back to Hayley's so they could gush about this battle and spill the beans about their big story from the night before, the story about their rebirth. "Alright, Power Rangers. Prepare to teleport!", he shouted as all six of them pushed the button on their wrist communicators and, seconds later, disappeared in six multi colored beacons of light into the sky, the wide eyed Dino Rangers and Nevaeh watching them go like they had just watched the ending to the last episode of the Soprano's, except this time there was no black out and no near riots because of the horrible way to go out. Instead, there were googly eyes of admiration, respect and awe, the dropped jaws just adding more onto the cake as it is.

Kira stared at the sky for a few more seconds before lowering her head to look at her three friends and Kimberly's neice. They were all still staring at the clouds, still not believing they had just witnessed the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, the originals, the legends, the first protectors of the planet Earth...teleport away before their very eyes. She then thought about how the day started off nicely back at Hayley's, then almost deteriorated before her very eyes because of those damn birds, and then gotten better as she watched the original Power Rangers kick ass and save the day again, for the second day in a row. And then she thought about it, and as she did. she came to one, simple conclusion.

Today was a great day. And it was only six in the afternoon.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Touching back down in Hayley's, the six Ninjetti Rangers went back to their normal clothes and were met with a raucous round of applause from their fellow friends and former Rangers, all of them having big smiles on their faces as congratulations were in order for saving the day once again. Jason was bearhugging his best friend in white, while Hayley commented on how good Billy looked out there. Tanya gave her self proclaimed "Frog Prince" a kiss on the cheek while Trini and Kimberly were practically tripping over their words, they were so excited, and Kat was hugging Aisha tightly like there would be no tomorrow. Friendly words were exchanged between them all until Tommy's wrist bracelet beeped and he shushed everyone around him so that he could talk to whoever it was on the other end.

"Tommy here, what goes on?"

"It's Ethan. When the hell are we going to be able to come back to Hayley's?", he asked in an impatient tone, and through background noises, Tommy could hear Conner and the rest of them doing something, but it soon faded away as he heard Ethan's quite audible footsteps walk away from that direction.

"Why, what's going on? Is Conner doing something he shouldn't be doing?", Tommy responded rather quickly.

"You mean, like almost reveal yours **AND** our secrets to Miss Hart's niece, and then find some incredibly rediculous excuse to cover it up? No, of course he's not doing something he shouldn't be doing, Dr. O", muttered Ethan while everyone surrounding Tommy laughed and he just groaned and rolled his eyes. When it came down to being a good Red Ranger and leader, Conner McKnight had that down pat. But being smart and using common sense? Ehh, best not to get started on that sore topic.

"Well...for chrissakes, what did he friggin say? We only left ten, fifteen minutes ago!", Tommy asked, although he felt by asking, he was just waiting for the big can of worms Ethan had waiting on the other side to explode in his face.

"Well, you see, after you six performed your mystical disappearing Houdini light show act", Ethan started, taking a break inbetween to see if he was out of earshot, before continuing, "Miss Hart's neice was gushing about how cool it was to have watched the Power Rangers fight, and how cool it was to have hugged the White Ranger, all those good things. I can't say that I blame her though, she's really into the Power Rangers and stuff and she's like what, fourteen? So yeah, we're listening to her talk all excitedly about this, and then Conner goes ahead and, I kid you not, this is his actual verbatim, says...'I know who the White Ranger is!' "

Tommy's eyes grew to the size of two monstrous watermelons, his ears pinned back like he was either really nervous, scared, or ready to kill someone. His jaw dropped slightly, but the grip he had on his wrist where the bracelet resided tightened; he was going to destroy Conner once he got his hands on him. Everyone around him seemed to stop laughing as well, while Tommy could hear Hayley mutter, "That kid is going to get himself killed", to herself, while he tried to find the words to say, but his mind couldn't produce a coherent thought, let alone sound coming out of his throat. "You there, Dr. O? Hellooo?"

"Uh...right, yeah. I'm here....", he said, controlling his rage as best he could.

"So it gets better. As if the looks on my, Kira's and Trent's faces weren't ready to explode as it was, he then goes and talks about how him and the White Ranger are close friends, and it was right there that I had to attempt to hold both Kira and Trent back from killing him right there on the spot. Do you know how hard it is trying to keep a girl with a scream that could shatter the sound barrier and a former evil Ranger who nearly killed you in the past from going absolutly batshit crazy on someone? I'd rather go through one of your science classes again than do that!", Ethan whined as everyone burst into fits of laughter while Tommy turned around and gave them the kind of look that he had been universally known for when he led the team all those years ago, and it worked; they all quieted as he turned back around and went to finding out what his 'beloved' Red Dino Ranger had said.

"What else did the little bastard say?"

"Well after Kira somehow managed to get an arm around me and punch him in the back of the head, he turned around and saw the look on their faces and, like only he can, realized that if he kept talking, it'd be a very bad idea, so naturally, like all Power Rangers do...or did, whatever, in this case, he stammered, thought for a second, then came up with a half-assed excuse to cover up for hissecret duty. He's sooo bad at it though. I thought that with him hanging around you for so long, Dr. O, he'd of picked up a few good excuses, but sheesh, each new one is worse than the last one."

"What was his cover up this time around? He didn't try using the 'I met him through playing soccer' excuse again, did he? That one was probably his all time worst."

"I don't remember, I kind of started to walk off when he began to open his mouth again. I can't take it anymore, Dr. O! When the hell can we be let back to Hayley's? We wanna hear the story, and if it gets Conner to shut up, then it'll be even more worth it!"

"I know you guys want to hear the story, but come on man, you know better. You can't come back yet because of the cargo you're currently carrying, Ethan. You know that she can't know of our secret."

It was at about that moment that Kimberly tore herself away from the little side conversation she was having with Trini and gave Tommy this incredulous look, astonished that he would be ballsy enough to refer to her 'neice' as 'cargo.' Who did he think he was, calling her own flesh and blood 'cargo' ? Was he just asking for her to kick his ass right here and now? She went to go say something, but in a flash, she felt Trini's hand on her shoulder. Turning back to face her best friend, Kim realized that if she went off on Tommy now, everything she was (hopefully) working towards would be wasted and everything would be for nothing. The dancing around each other? Gone if she said something. The eventual talk? Gone. The screaming bout that would surely follow? Gone. The pain, heartache, suffering? Gone. Everything about why she agreed to come here to Angel Grove would be gone in the blink of an eye, and there was no way that she was going to let her mouth and her pride ruin something that had been eleven whole years in the making. There was just no way. So, sneaking a quick glance at the back of Tommy's head, she sighed and bit her tongue; everything she had bottled up inside of her would have to wait until a later date.

"Cargo? A human being isn't cargo, Dr. O. Especially when said human being is the original Pink Ranger's neice."

Tommy gave a slight roll of the eyes for a moment as Kimberly grinned and pumped her fist, doing a little victory dance on the inside. She'd have to thank his Blue Ranger when they eventually got back here to Hayley's...whenever the stubborn one in white a few inches from her relented.

"Alright, that may be true, but still, you know that our secret is to be guared amongst ourselves. To let an outsider in, flesh and blood or not, would be breaking the bond and the code we all share amongst ourselves. You understand that, right Ethan?"

There was silence for a moment, as if the line had gone dead and Ethan broke off communications. But then, the crackling came back and all you heard Ethan say was...

"You want Conner's death on your hands if you don't let us back?"

Everyone started to laugh again as all Tommy could do was once again roll his eyes and shake his head. Conner really must have been getting that bad if _Ethan_ wanted to kill him.

"I know that you three won't kill him. You'll be allowed to come back soon, but only when the six of us agree on letting you back, alright?"

"So you mean I gotta be around Conner even longer than expected? Aww, come on, Dr. O! Do you really want to do that to your favorite out of the four?"

Tommy thought for a moment, then grinned. Oh, how he would be getting a kick out of what he was about to do.

"Your right. I don't."

"Glad you see it my way! When can I return?"

"Wooah, hold on there, Ethan. You said the favorite."

"Yeah, I know I'm the favorite! So is it ok if I return?"

"Tell Kira she can return."

Everyone's eyes grew wide, as they didn't see that coming at all. Ethan could be heard whining about how he was suffering the most, how he wanted to return, and that by Kira leaving, Miss Hart's neice would be stuck with three boys and no female companionship, and he was going to suffer some more, yadda yadda. Everyone got a kick out of it, and it was all in good fun.

"No if's, and's or but's about it, Ethan. Kira returns. You, Trent and Conner can return later on. My decision is final, ok? You'll just have to deal with it."

"This is unfair, Dr. O! This is...this is....is....sexist!"

"Right, uh huh. See you in a few hours, Ethan."

The communication then shut off as Tommy turned around to face everyone, and they were still in fits of laughter over this entire ordeal. And, to boot, their secrets were safe once more. A few moments later, a yellow beacon of light appeared in the middle of the room, and there stood Kira, who looked pleased to be there, but also sad to have left Nevaeh to the boys all by herself.

"How come you chose me to come back, Dr. O?"

"Eh, because I figure that you deal with their idiotic antics the most, and I know how you can be whenever Conner or even Trent and Ethan start acting rediculous and whatnot. And besides, the girl is safe with those three."

"Am I really your favorite, though?"

Images of his past flew through his mind, most of them containing a brown haired, sparkly eyed, petite gymnast decked in pink twirling and flipping around like the graceful crane she once...still is. Her smile, her smell, the way she would do her hair, the way she would pout when upset, her laugh, the way she dressed, her bubbly personality, her inner valley girl, and most importantly....her heart, all shone through in these images. Tommy found himself lost, immensed almost, in these memories of his once forgotten past and, though they felt so good to relive, even if only for a few seconds, it pained him to shove them back into the depths of his head, where they belonged. He couldn't relent, he couldn't crack and couldn't cave. So what if he saw a lot of her in Kira? He had to try and act like the similarities weren't painstakingly obvious. He had to be the stubborn Tommy that everyone knew him to be. And that's exactly what he was going to give them.

"You can say that. Look, Kira...I love all four of you as if you were my own children. I feel as if I've watched you grow up before my very eyes over the past couple of years. But there are times when I like one over the others, and lately, I've been liking you more than the boys. So yeah, you could say that you're my favorite."

"Aw, thanks Dr. O! That really means a lot to me, to hear you say that."

"Don't think anything of it, Kira."

The Yellow Dino Ranger then stepped forward and gave her former teacher and mentor a tight hug, while everyone around the two of them started making faces and going, 'Awwwww, how cuuute!', stuff like that, to which Tommy turned around and told them to all shut it before the embrace was let go of and Jason walked up and put his hand on his best friends shoulder.

"That's great and all, you know, that you and your Yellow are bonding, but uh....if I remember correctly, last time I checked, six people who suddenly wear their old colors again owe us a big story, the story of the ages, and now I think is just about the right time to tell it, don't you think, Fearless?"

"Yeah, come on! We've been waiting all day and almost all night to hear this!", chimed in Katherine, her accent coming in strong.

"Seriously dude, what kind of friends are you guys if you withhold juicy information from your own friends, huh?", asked Zack with that ever present grin on his face. Suddenly everyone was talking about how they wanted to hear the story, and it was only driven home by Hayley herself.

"Well, you know, I set this party up with the intention of letting the Dino's meet the originals, having a good time, and you six telling us the story of how it all happened again. I think it's time you six talked."

Tommy looked to Billy, who looked to Rocky, who looked to Kimberly, who looked to Adam, who looked to Aisha, and simultaneously, the six of them shrugged their shoulders and nodded their heads without ever saying a word. They began to march up onto the stage, six chairs set up for each of them in the middle. They sat down, with Rocky taking the end seat, Billy, Aisha, Kimberly, Adam and Tommy all following suit. The rest of the gang on the floor gathered around the stage with much anticipation, if it wasn't already apparent on their faces and in their movements. Silence took over for a few brief moments as the six ninja's on stage looked at each other (though Tommy deliberatly avoided eye contact with Kimberly), trying to determine who should go first and begin the tale. After talking amongst themselves, Billy stood up from his chair and cleared his throat loudly, standing before his friends on the floor as he took center stage.

"Well, uh...heh, where do we begin? So much has happened to me, to the six of us, over the past twenty four hours, it's hard to pick a place to start and explain what happened", the boy in blue started as he ran a hand through his short, sandy blonde hair before shoving them in his pant pockets, looking down at his feet. Trying to find the words he wanted to find. "Well, speaking for myself, last night was, quite frankly, the most insane night of my life. The only other day that comes close was, well, when I got called into duty fifteen years ago, that fateful afternoon at the Youth Center, by Zordon and Alpha. I'm sure that I also speak for everyone involved last night as well. It's probably best to start with what what brought us all here; our high school reunion. About a week and a half ago, there I was, out in the fields with the Aquitian Rangers on Aquitar, enjoying the life of a married man and father. Some of you may not have known, but me and Cestria welcomed our baby boy, Titus, into the world a little over a year ago", he said, stopping himself as everyone gave those faces and along with them came the aww's and the congrats on being a father. Kim knew the feeling of being a parent all to well and she reached out and put a hand on her friend's shoulder and gave him a comforting look.

"So that night, after returning home from my usual work with Delphine and the rest of the Aquitian Rangers, I found a letter on the table in our living room with my name on it. Strangely enough, it was postmarked as coming from, who would have guessed it, Angel Grove, California. Cestria said it just appeared out of nowhere, so obviously I'd be intrigued, right? Opening the envalope, though, I didn't expect everything in my life to be...overturned, if you will. It was from Jason here, and it was a simple little letter up until he mentioned 'anniversary of our past'. He had me hooked and a little nervous. It had been so long since I had remembered anything from being a Power Ranger, it was like being washed over by a huge tidal wave. At first I didn't want to go, but Jason wrote in it that it would be great for me to see everyone again, and with Cestria's urging, I decided, what the hell? So I packed my bags and returned to Earth three days ago. But I'd be lying to you if I told you that I expected to be wearing the spandex again and hearing the cry of the wolf everywhere I go now. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be in this position once more, but hey, here I am, with my friends, holding the Power again. But enough about me. Last night...it was supposed to be simple, fun, and nostalgic. And it started off that way at first, right guys?"

Billy turned to his friends on the stage, all of them nodding their heads in response as he let out a sigh before continuing on, everyone on the floor listening intently to every word.

"It was nice seeing everyone again after so long. We joked, we talked, we caught up on stuff, we laughed, it was just....to be honest, it really felt like high school again, for a few brief moments, it felt like we were all just sitting in the hall before Mrs. Applebee's class. And then..."

"And then he showed up", said Rocky as he stood up and took the floor, motioning with his head towards Jason, who wore a big grin on his face. "That's when things really started to get fun. He comes in, wearing that rediculous electric red suit that might as well have had 'I was the first Red Ranger' stitched on the back, and then he tops it off with the black and gold tie. If you didn't already know, Jase here is all for broadcasting his colors like he's a walking television. But I digress. Things really kicked off after Jason arrived, and another good thing about him getting there was that we didn't have to listen to Kat ask, 'Where's Jason?' every two minutes", as everyone chuckled and Kat shrugged her shoulders and simply smiled as Rocky continued on. "So naturally, Jason becomes the party boy and begins to go crazy while everyone wonders where Fearless over here was. We don't worry about that though, because Jason's here, drinks are being passed around and everyone is reminiscing. Hell, I think even someone asked where Bulk and Skull were, along with Mr. Caplan, Ernie and Lieutenant Stone, everyone else. Everyone's having fun, we're all just enjoying the night, and right in the middle of the story I was telling about when me and Adam were over Tommy's house and we put perm in his shampoo, which we would have pulled off it weren't for Kat here, but right as I'm getting to the good part of the story..."

"Ernie, out of nowhere it seemed, showed up", interjected Adam. "Everyone was moreso shocked than happy to see him, considering how he looked when he arrived. He was nothing like the old Ernie. He had lost a lot of weight and was looking great. He still had his long hair and his good nature though, so it was great being able to reconnect with him. Turns out he bought back the Juice Bar and refurbished it, everything. It's the same as it was when we were still in high school, and, as you all know, he told us to stop by whenever we got the chance. Just a heads up, this portion of the story is basically just the recap of what happened before things got out of control, to the two of you who weren't there", he said, motioning with his head towards Hayley and Kira. "I remember, at least from my perspective, how great it was to see everyone again. Hell, I thought I'd never see Billy here again, especially with what I had heard about his life on Aquitar, but the same could be applied for everyone else; I rarely see Tommy, Rocky and Jason, maybe two, three times a year, Aisha's on the other side of the world in Africa, Kat's been in London, Zack and Trini have been all over the place, namely Switzerland still and Kim...heh, no offense Kim, but you just kind of fell off the face of the earth", Adam said with an apologetic smile while Kimberly shot him a look that basically said 'You don't know the half of it.' Clearing his throat and playing with the top button on his shirt, he continued on. "I felt like Tanya was my only link to our collective pasts, y'know? So we're all talking, as stated, me and Tanya are doing what couples do and stuff, but the one question everyone has....'Where is Tommy Oliver?'. Jason kept giving us cryptic answers, Rocky wouldn't say anything either except he didn't know if he'd show or not, and we were all getting antsy. But, as if on cue, like it were some big battle or whatever..."

"Fearless bounded in looking like a nervous wreck, and boy was it funny", added Aisha as everyone laughed while Tommy shook his head and grumbled something under his breath. "Oh come on boy, if it were Rocky or Billy, you'd have a grand time laughing it up too. So in he comes, wearing white and black, because, according to Jason, he didn't have any snazzy red or green clothes to wear, go figure, but damn it was funny watching him act the way he acted", she said with a smile while everybody (sans Tommy again) let a laugh out, himself looking down at his feet, his cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. "You'd think he was seeing us all for the first time and was nervous to make friends, huh? But soon after Jason got a drink in him, he relaxed and chilled out and became the fun Tommy we all knew him to be. Of course though, that left just one person to be present, and well, that person came and showed everyone why she was always considered fabulous. You think Tommy was bad when he initially arrived? He melted when he saw ol' Kim here come into the building, stammering, stuttering, staring, eyes real wide, jaw dropped....the boy was basically tripping over his own two feet, and his jawline to boot. Yes folks, you heard right. Tommy Oliver, legendary Power Ranger, green, white, red and black suits all on his resume, wielder of more power than any human being should ever hold, leader of his own team of Power Rangers, not to mention the man of a thousand and one Zords, acting like an idiot schoolboy. And girl, despite being away for so long, you fit right back in like it was nothing....but then, you know...", Aisha took a moment to pause, reflecting on the moment that their lives changed again.

"It happened."

Tommy stood up and shot Aisha a glance, while she dutifully nodded her head and sat back down. It was time to get to the serious portion of the talk. The man in white ran a hand through his long hair and kept his eyes fixated on the floor, looking for the right words to say to everyone below him. Hand on his hip, he paced back and forth while his teammates watched him intently, before he stopped in the middle of the stage and let out a deep sigh.

"What do I say about what happened last night? How can I even put it into words? It was probably the most fucked up night of my life, and believe me, having worn four colors, lost more powers than anyone, and had so many bad things happen to my DNA, I've seen and felt some messed up shit in my time as a Power Ranger. But all of that doesn't compare to last night. It felt like...a piece of me died, but then another piece was reborn. I think I speak for everyone when I say that we feel like multi-colored phoenixes rising from the ashes. I just remember...the music, the dancing, the cloak and fedore, the emotion, the comraderie...and then in the blink of an eye, it was all gone. The side of the building had gone up in flames, there was rubble everywhere, chaos erupting as people fled and were scared for their lives. Then him...that damn cackle. Zedd re-entered our lives. Everything about him just made my skin crawl and my stomach lurch the moment he came into that damn auditorium, and then Goldar and Rito...it was all very scary. It felt like death was staring at us....the way they looked around the room for us, the floor...the Putties and Tengas emerging from hell....I felt like last night was the night I was going to die. I don't know about the five up here with me, but I know that's how I felt. I told everyone this last night, and Jason knows too, but for the longest time, I've had these nightmares that one of our old villians from our past would come back, and ruin the world, hellfire, brimstone, all that..."

Everyone on stage and below took a moment to let it all sink in, all of them remaining silent while Tommy reflected, his hands shoved deep in his pockets as he let out a snort before continuing onwards.

"The fact that he was looking for all of us was enough to just chill me to the bone, but when...you know, people began screaming, I remember holding onto....Kimberly here, and telling Jason that we needed to evacuate the place before any action of physical retaliation from us could take place, but then...I can recall the look on Jase's face when we began to teleport away. It was shock and horror. I felt nothing in my arms anymore, and my body felt like a feather. I had forgotten what it was like to teleport again, to tell the truth. I remember flying and blacking out, then being dumped down from the sky onto some floor, in pitch black darkness. We were all trying to gain our bearings and then there was this click...the door opened and out came were all shocked, yeah, none more than the Crane here, who was just a wreck....can't blame her, though. Alpha came out and looked better than ever. He explained the events that had happened in his life over the past decade or so, describing the war between the galaxies, how he made continuous trips to Earth to rebuild the Command Center, how he played dead on Eltar to avoid being killed at the hands of Dark Spectre and Astronema's forces...the real shock had been that he told us he had been keeping tabs on us all throughout our lives. He too, apparently, feared that Rita or Zedd, maybe even one of our other main villians in Ooze, Mondo, or Divatox would re-appear and cause havoc again, hence why he kept tabs on us. Once again, I feel as if I speak for everyone here when I say that I couldn't believe what was going on..."

"It was a most thrilling and harrowing experience", Billy chimed in.

"It was like seeing my life flash before my eyes", Aisha murmured.

"I thought I was dead when it happened", Rocky said slowly.

"I couldn't believe that this all went down", Adam added.

"Scared the living hell out of me...", Kimberly muttered softly.

"Why don't you continue, Kimberly? We've all said our pieces and you've said nary a word until now", Tommy said, looking down at her as she sat in her chair. She inwardly cringed; she really didn't feel like speaking about how afraid she was about last night (and how she was still fearful of the entire situation still). All she wanted to do was to just get out of there and go back to the safety of her hotel room with her daughter and think everything through, re-evaluate her life and whatnot. She wanted to go the entire time without speaking, but now Tommy (damn him) put her on the spot, and all eyes were on her, and she was blushing. Damn him. Damn him, damn him, damn him, she thought to herself as she fixed her clothes and slowly stood from her chair, making her way to the center of the stage, her hand accidentally brushing on his hand when they walked past one another; her cheeks were redder than they were five seconds ago. Even after all these years, his mere touch, however brief, still made her senses tingle. How dare he, she thought. She loved and hated him for it. But she put on a brave face for her old friends below and cleared her throat before taking a deep breath, picking up where Tommy left off.

"Right, so um...from what I remember, Alpha was talking all about what he had done over the last decade and how he got the Command Center up and running about a week ago. He was acting all wierd...like he had matured. He said something about how we all thought it was a nightmare and that being there would be where we woke up. Then he kinda disappeared somewhere. I don't remember much of what he said, to be honest, because I took the whole deal the hardest. I know you'll all tease me for it later, but I was seriously crying and sobbing the entire time. I even had this god awful image in my head...someone was in my house, and then it turned out to be Zedd...I just remember 'Sha cradling me and Alpha trying to see if I was ok, but I screamed and let some more tears flow. Then Thomas remembered that Jase and everyone else was still out there, and went to check the Viewing Globe to see where they were...then Alpha came back into the main chamber and asked us the big question. A pedestal appeared in the middle of the floor, six stations, all with our colors and our morphers on it. We gathered 'round and then he asked it."

"Are you ready?", the six resurrected Power Rangers all said in unison, smiles on their faces, while everyone below was sucked into the story, full attentiveness and everything. This truly was a groundbreaking story for them to all be hearing, and anything less than all their attention would be disrespectful to their friends.

"At first, I didn't know what he meant when he asked it. I thought he meant, 'Are you ready?' as in, ready to leave and forget it ever happened", said Aisha with a bit of a chuckle while everyone else did the same.

"I had a feeling he'd ask us to be Rangers again, but I was so hoping he wouldn't", confessed Billy. "It had been so long and being from an alien planet now, only to come back and be asked that again? I didn't know if I could handle it."

"I know exactly what you mean, Billy. Minus the alien planet part", Adam chimed in as Rocky nodded his head in agreement, not having to say anything.

"At least none of you had come off being a Ranger again recently", said Tommy. "But hell, it seems that no matter how much I try to run away from it, I just can't escape it. So why not? What the hell. Let's throw my life through the ringer again", he said somewhat bitterly.

"It scared me half to death....like I mentioned before, I took it the hardest, and I just didn't know if I could ever go back and become a Ranger once more....I didn't want to live that life again...but then Alpha asked...", Kimberly whispered as she clenched her fist and tried to push the fearful thoughts to the back of her head.

"He then produced a bag and unraveled it...and as you would guess, it held our Ninja Coins...the very same Ninja Coins we had thought to be lost forever, from what I heard, when Goldar destroyed them", she continued as she brushed some of her hair back and began to pace back and forth on the stage. "He placed the coins on the respective stations and told us to go to them. Re-accept our destinies as protectors of Angel Grove and the planet Earth. He said that it was our choice to make, but he stressed the importance of the situation. All we would have to do is extend our hand towards the center, and wait for the orb of energy within to light up, then quickly remove our hand and place both on the station, looking up to the ceiling...and we'd be reunited with the Great Power, our Ninjetti spirits..."

"We all thought about it, thoroughly...and we took our time doing so", Tommy interrupted, giving Kim a quick, stern glance before deciding to take over the story himself. "Rocky was the first to go for it. Billy, hesitantly, followed him, then Aisha. Adam decided to re-up as well, and then there came me. That left just Kimberly, but she wouldn't look any of us in the eye, turned her back to us. We took it as she wouldn't do it....we tried reasoning with her, but it didn't work....so we went through with it, and the next thing I knew, I was dressed in my ninja suit, and I felt....alive. It was great. Then we teleported to the park and took on the Tenga's and Putties...."

"And you were all overwhelmed, at first", Kim butted in, glaring at Tommy, picking up where she left off originally. "They almost captured you, Thomas. I know, because I watched the entire thing on the Viewing Globe. I feared for your lives, but I also feared becoming something I gave up years ago, feared becoming the very thing I had moved on from...but I kept watching, and Alpha kept pleading with me, and I knew, I just knew that I couldn't let you all down, that I didn't want to look like a chicken....so I did it. I touched the center station and then felt the power of the Crane flow through my veins as I touched the station with my morpher and coin on it...then it was to the park, where we were six strong again, and we showed those damn birds and clay brains that we were back....and that's the story of how the six of us became the Power Rangers again", Kimberly finished with a big sigh of relief.

Billy, Aisha, Tommy, Adam and Rocky all got up from their chairs and stood next to Kimberly, surrounding her and bowing, while everyone below clapped their appreciation, whistling, hooting and hollering at the great, riveting tale. They kept it up as they showered their friends with adulation and the praise they deserved. As they received their applause, Tommy turned his head slightly to catch a glimpse of Kimberly. Feeling his eyes on her, she turned to look at him too, their eyes meeting. His face was devoid of happiness, somberness and hidden angst taking the front, while Kimberly's face was hurting and drab. Nobody noticed this as the two former lovers stared at each other; the talk was coming, that was for sure. It was just a matter of who initiated it. The perfect word to sum up their faces was that they were both down. They should of been happy....yet over a decade of uneasiness, broken hearts...all of it....it was apparently clear that they were both in a world of emotional pain.

And lost in all of it was the pair of blood red, glowing eyes, hidden amongst some bushes on the outside looking in, a dark face with jagged teeth grinning manaically, staring at them through the window....

**AN 3: And that's it! R/R and enjoy! Thank you to those who have stuck with it, I hope you like it!**


	9. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

**AN: Here's the latest chapter! Again, I apologize for the long periods inbetween chapters. Thank you for your patience and I really hope you enjoy reading the next chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Hope you all like it!**

**AN 2: I don't own the Power Rangers. If I did, I'd move the Power Morphicon to the East Coast. Not that Los Angeles isn't a bad choice to host it or anything.....**

_"Mmm, so if you want it, got to bleed for it baby  
Yeah! Got to, got to bleed, baby  
Mmm, you got to, got to bleed, baby  
Hey! Got to, got to bleed baby_

Ain't talkin' 'bout love  
My love is rotten to the core  
Ain't talkin' 'bout love  
Just like I told you before! Before! Before!

Ain't talkin' 'bout love  
Don't wanna talk about love  
Don't need to talk about love  
Ain't gonna talk about love  
No more! No more! Ahhh!"

Kimberly couldn't believe she was just asked a question she thought would never be asked. She couldn't believe she even said yes. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing, and the shock of the answer coming out of her mouth was apparent all over her face. He _had_ to be joking. Maybe he was talking to Trini. Kat and Jason? No. He asked her, and only **her**. She'd be lying if she said she didn't feel a little good about his spontaneous offer.

Tommy Oliver had asked her, Kimberly Hart, if she'd consider crashing at his place here in Reefside, to avoid having to travel all the way to the north end of Angel Grove, where the hotel her and Nevaeh had been staying at. The question came out of nowhere, and what got her even more was that, from the look of it, he had done it of his own volition. No prodding from Jason or Trini (or anyone else, for that matter), no debating. _Nothing_. He just flat out came up to her and asked if she'd like to stay at his house. It was odd, considering his mood from last night, after their first battle back together as a team (which, admittedly, she took great joy in, working together with him for the first time in over a decade), right up until five minutes ago when he offered. He had been acting like a massive prick to her, plain and simple. And while she couldn't say that she didn't deserve it (because lord willing, she did), it still hurt, considering what his mood was and what he had done before the battle. The dressing up and throwing his voice, disguising himself...while she found it a tad bit childish, she also found it flattering that he'd go through all that trouble just to get close to her again and speak to her after all those years of absolutely no contact. But what caused his mood to change like it had puzzled her. At least, she thought, it was one trait that Tommy had held onto from his teenage years. She recalled the times when his mood swings would be happening on a consistent basis when they were both still in high school....

However, before she could process the events any further in her head, Trini and Aisha took her by both arms and dragged her to a secluded corner of the shop where girl talk could commence. Looking into both her best friends eyes, Kimberly nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders and didn't say a word. How could she? She was feeling conflicting emotions and it made it hard for her to speak right now.

"What? What do you want me to say to you two? That I'm happy? That I'm shocked?", the Pink Ranger mused as she flipped her hair back and folded her arms across her chest, staring at the two Yellow Rangers intently as she stole a quick glance in Tommy's direction, smiling on the inside as she did so.

"You know what this means, right girl?", asked Aisha, obviously hinting towards what everyone else was thinking at the exact moment that Tommy asked the question. Anyone with half a brain (or in someone like Bulk or Skull's case if they had been present, a quarter of a brain) understood what that question posed to Kim meant; he wanted to talk, and he wanted to move on.

"It means he asked me if I'd like to stay at his house so I can avoid the long trip back to the very tip of Angel Grove, that's what", responded Kim coolly, playing it off like she really didn't know what the real reason behind Tommy's asking it. Only she knew damn well what it was all about, and it only made her that much more afraid and happy at the same time. Afraid because this was eleven...had it really been eleven years since that damn island came into their lives and changed everything for the worse again? Yes. Eleven years in the making, twelve and a half, thirteen at most if you count the time from when she sent the infamous letter. And she was happy because, hell, she was going to be in his house, alone with him, and she was almost one hundred percent certain that they would dredge up their past, scream at each other, make up, and move on, finding the closure in their respective lives that they so richly deserved. And who knew? Maybe they'd go back to being friends....though Kimberly wanted more than that, but, true to her nature, she'd never admit it to anyone. Trini, Aisha or Kat, even Tanya, would bring it up from time to time, and she'd deny, deny and deny every single time. Why change now? Being stubborn was one of her personality traits that she'd never, ever ditch.

"Kim, sweetie, I know you're a smart girl, but don't you think you should abandon the VG act for a moment?", asked Trini, referencing their high school days when Kim was the stereotypical valley girl, right down to the way she dressed and talked. It was something she was both fond and a little bit embarrassed of. "It's obvious what Brick Boy's intentions were when he asked you if you'd like to crash at his house for the night. Don't you think it's a little convenient that he asked himself, not Jason or Adam asking for him?"

"Trini, I don't know what you're getting at, alright? He's just being a...a good teammate and leader, and a gentleman, that's all. He's...um, trying to set a good example. You know, like all good leaders do. Jason would of done the same thing in this situation", she spoke as she craned her neck and arched an eyebrow, trying to tell the both of them that there was no hidden meaning behind his question, that what she said really was the reason why he was asking her to crash at his place. But she knew differently. She'd just never, ever admit it to the two of them, best friends, surrogate sisters or not.

"Girl, you've gotta be pulling our chains or something", Aisha stated bluntly as she tapped her foot on the ground, crossing her own arms and brushing some of her dreads back, her eyes boring into her friend's eyes. "Seriously, you can't tell us that you don't know what he's going to do tonight, because you do know. This has been coming for over a decade, hun. You both need to move on, find your closure, kiss, make up, have children, get married and live happily after, all while saving the world."

Kim's eyes grew wide, wider than most humans eyes would grow in a spot like that, blushing madly while it even caused Trini to turn her head slightly and shoot Aisha a questionable look. While that's what Trini wanted for the original Power Couple as well (not to mention everyone else in their circle of friends and the rest of the Ranger community who knew of Tommy and Kim's history together), she hadn't expected Aisha to lay it on so...thickly, for a matter of words. But that was just how Aisha was; she wasn't afraid to be blunt and point out stuff like that. She relished being able to do so. And that was just one of the many things Trini admired about the Bear, the girl she asked to replace her when she went away to Switzerland. She knew she had made the right choice picking Aisha.

"Alright, so maybe that was laying it all out there on the line, and perhaps you shouldn't of heard some of what I just said, but Kim, you know what I'm getting at, right? Please tell me you do. Because it's clear that everyone else knows what he's getting at", Aisha murmured as she too stole a glance in Tommy's direction, watching him speak and laugh it up with Jason and Zack over something. "He wants what you want, girl. The opportunity to move on from your past and start anew."

"Aisha's right, Kim. You can't play the denial card here, not this time. You know us better than that. We're yellow's. We're the smart, wise ones of the group. I've known you ever since you came to my table in the first grade and wanted to play with me and be my friend. I know how you work, sweetheart. And I've known Tommy long enough to know how he works too. You both need that talk to happen, for the betterment of yourselves, for the betterment of the team, and for the betterment of....well, you know", Trini said softly, obviously referencing the big, dark cloud that hung over Kim everywhere she went, keeping the secret from him for lord knew how long now. While Trini loved Nevaeh and had come to think of the peppy fourteen year old as her surrogate niece, the girl deserved to know the truth. The whole truth. Everyone deserved to know, Tommy being at the top of that list. Jason and Rocky felt the same way, too. This time, however, it was Aisha who shot Trini an undefined look. Mouthing 'You know what?' to the original Yellow Ranger, Kim sensed that the talk was going to regions she didn't want it entering, so she quickly cleared her throat and got the attention of both yellow's, saving herself (and Trini) the trouble of trying to make up an excuse.

"Girls, I'd really like to not talk about this right now, ok? I'm beat from a long day of reminiscing, partying, fighting, having my DNA get messed up again and worrying about where my niece is and if she's in safe hands with Conner, Ethan and Trent. Whatever happens when I'm at Tommy's house tonight, believe me, you two, Kat and Tanya will be the first to know about. Now can we just talk about something else or put this off until sometime later? I really need to wrangle in Nevaeh and see if Kira would be alright with letting Nev crash with her tonight", Kim said in a near desperate tone, not quite realizing what she just said, but that only raised the eyebrows of Aisha and Trini even more with the new information that Kim would be alone at Tommy's house tonight.

"Wait a minute, you're going to be staying there by yourself? You're _not_ bringing Nevaeh with you?", questioned Trini as she put a hand on her hip and grinned madly while Kim shot her a dirty look that could have killed if at all possible. "You didn't mention that before."

"Girl, now you _know_ you can't deny his intentions. I'd of believed you if Nev was gonna be with you, but she's gonna be crashing with Kira? Kim, it's gonna happen. Come to grips with it, girl", Aisha spoke bluntly again as she too grinned wildly while Kim felt her cheeks redden a little bit, biting down on her lip and resisting the urge to lash out at her best friends for nearly making her break her walls down.

"Damn you", she muttered to the two yellow's, who had satisfactory smiles on their lips, while she whipped out her phone and began to dial Nevaeh's number. "Excuse me, I need to see where my niece is. And don't even think of saying anything to anyone, or else I'll kick both your asses. Comprende?", she said through her gritted teeth smile as she brushed by them and waiting for the other line to click so she could speak to her 'niece.' Aisha and Trini looked at each other and gave themselves a high five. Mission accomplished!

"Tonight may be the start of something new...something beautiful, dont'cha think, Tri?", Aisha asked in a playful tone, that smile never leaving her lips as she watched Kimberly walk away.

"You may be right, 'Sha. You may be right...and you get points for dropping Brick Boy's nickname for her there", said Trini as the two girls burst out into fits of laughter, causing Kim to roll her eyes as she got away from the both of them, walking past Billy and Kat, who saw Trini and Aisha laughing, then heard Kim grumbling, and merely shrugged their shoulders as they went back to talking.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Tommy couldn't believe he had just asked that question he thought he'd never ask in a million years. He couldn't believe she had actually said yes. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing, and the shock was written all over his face from asking and receiving her answer. He was kidding himself by asking. She was toying with his emotions again, she just had to be. Maybe she was only saying it to be nice. Maybe she meant it? No way. She had to be messing with him, saying yes like it was nothing. But he'd be joking himself if he didn't feel a little bit good about this evening and how it was shaping up to be.

Kimberly Hart had said yes to his, Tommy Oliver's, question about whether or not she'd like to crash at his house here in Reefside, instead of making the three hour long drive all the way back to northern Angel Grove, the location of the hotel she was staying at. He'd even said that her niece could crash at Kira's house for the night while she stayed with him, to take some of the pressure off her shoulders. He was crazy for offering her the chance to be alone in his house, with all his stuff and everything else he considered sacred there. But he had asked it on a simple whim, a whim that seemingly came straight out of left field. He hadn't even been needled by Jason or Trini (or anyone else, for that matter) to do this seemingly charitable deed for the girl who took his heart like it was a piece of meat and threw it in the trash. Her saying yes though, _that_ was what got him. He didn't expect it, but then again, should he have expected anything different from her? If there was one thing that hadn't changed about her, it was that she was unpredictable, so small part of him knew she'd say yes to something like that. The way she answered the question reminded him so much of how she used to be back in high school during...._those days_. He tried not to remember those days for the sake of his pride, but every now and then, he was reminded of them, whether he liked it or not. That was mainly why his attitude towards her had taken a turn south over the past 24 hours. The regaining of powers (again!!!), teaming up with her in the heat of the battle, the way she moved around the field like a feather....the way he reacted to her every move...it honestly felt like high school again for him, and he hated her for making him feel so damn good about it. He was _supposed_ to hate her, not care for her, still....love her? Hell no. He was supposed to hate her with every fiber of his being. What she had done to him, it drove him to the brink of insanity and it turned him into a shell of himself in a sense. For the next few years, after he had received the infamous letter at the Youth Center during the Zeo days, he had grown into a brooding, astringent boy. The hole in his heart that Kim left told him that he would never love another girl like her, probably ever. Katherine, to her everlasting credit, had tried so hard to make Tommy feel better about the whole situation, tried replacing the love he lost and so it went, the two ended up dating. It was an on and off thing with them; one moment they were happy together, the next, she would be screaming at him, telling him to get over Kimberly, to which he would always respond with the usual line of ''I can't ever get over her.'' Before he knew it, Kat had gone off to London and Tommy was left all by himself in Angel Grove, with nothing but his racing that he did for his uncle. Rocky had gone on a spiritual journey to Argentina after his back healed; Adam and Tanya moved in with each other and went back to Stone Canyon, constantly on the move with Tanya's singing career; Billy had been on Aquitar for a long time at that point, falling in love with Cestria and studying the Aquitian nature; Trini and Zack were still in Switzerland, having decided to live there and continue what they had started at Geneva for the peace conference; Jason was all over the place, never staying in one spot, trying to find himself after losing the Gold Ranger powers and the incident on Muranthias; T.J., Carlos, Justin, Cassie and Ashley carried on the Turbo powers before they were destroyed, with Justin staying behind to be with his father, the other four having gone off to space, where they ran into Andros and became the Space Rangers...and she was still in Florida with some other guy. Some other guy that, upon first sight, Tommy promised to kill, no questions asked.

He was alone then, with nobody in the world to save him from the free fall his life was taking. It wasn't until Jason finally came back to Angel Grove (this time for good) that he felt it was necessary to do something with his life. Sure, he had gone to college and he had done pretty well (after all, it was at college that he met Hayley and formed the close friendship that they had to this day), but he didn't know what he wanted to do with himself. Then Jason suggested he go into the study of paleontology; sure, it had started off as a complete joke at first, but the more Tommy thought about it, the more the subject intrigued him. And he thought it'd be great to tell everyone who had expected him to continue racing that he had gone off and got his doctorate on the topic of prehistoric life. And that was how it happened.

Tommy suddenly shook his head free of the past for the moment and remembered that he was still in Hayley's, surrounded by his all of his friends. He then felt a tap on his shoulder and saw Jason and Zack looking at him knowingly. He raised an eyebrow and gave his two friends quizzical looks, but then they rolled their eyes and sighed, before huddling around him in a circle, keeping their words to a low whisper so no one would hear the conversation that was about to take place.

"You have some explaining to do, dude", Zack stated simply as he looked to Jason for confirmation.

"If you don't mind me asking, but bro, what was that all about?", Jason asked with a small smile, though keeping the serious tone in his voice.

"What was what all about? The story?", Tommy said, purposely playing dumb and hoping to shoo the two of them off so that he could question himself about the big bomb he dropped just a few moments ago. But he knew better than that; he knew that these two would needle him about it until the very end, until he caved and his pride gave way to the truth, and Tommy was going to do his best to avoid that tonight.

"Don't act like an idiot, Tommy. You used to do that back in high school, it irritated me then, and it still irritates the hell out of me now. You know damn well what this is about", Jason stated bluntly, his face stone cold in it's expression, his arms crossed and his head cocked back.

"Come on man, we've known you since freshman year at AGH, you can be up front with us, because you know, this is something that you _definatly _need to be up front about, seeing as it involves you know who", Zach spoke as he brushed a dread lock away and sighed. The situation reminded him of something straight out of his high school days; a stammering Tommy, obviously in denial over his feelings towards Kim, playing stupid and hiding the truth from him and Jason. It almost made him smile, but then he remembered that this was now, and that was then, and it was getting real old, real fast.

"Seriously guys, what's going on? Uh, I can elaborate on certain parts if I need to...", Tommy said with a hint of hesitation, his foundations already beginning to slowly crumble under the heat his friends were giving him. He toyed with the idea of just coming out and telling them that he had his own reasons for doing what he did (and did he ever have reasons), but he figured he could try and buy himself more time to continue acting like a moron for a few more minutes before the two of them got really pissed off at him.

"You for real, Tommy? You seriously gonna act like you _didn't_ just ask Kimberly to come over to your house, **alone** I might add, for the reason we all know you have?", Zack asked in an incredulous tone, close to going off on his former leader before Jason put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head, the look on his face saying that now wasn't the time nor place for an outburst like the one that was currently brewing. Instead, Jason looked away briefly and sighed deeply, before looking his best friend in the eye and challenging him to continue the act that he was putting on. To his credit though, Tommy challenged him right back and didn't give an inch.

"So what? I mean, I don't want to sound rude or anything, but why should you or why do you care about what I do with my free time? So I asked Kimberly to stay at my house so she could avoid the hassle of driving three, four hours up to northern Angel Grove. Big deal. I'm doing for her what I'd do for any one of you if you were in the same position", he responded simply, shrugging his shoulders and digging his hands into his pockets while Jason rolled his eyes in disgust and Zack was beside himself. And so the act continued.

"You're gonna ask me why **I** should care, bro?", Jason began. "Me? Christ, I've only been the middle man for you two for the last decade and a half!! She's only my little sister and you're only my best friend. And you know, in case you totally fucking forgot like the big dickhead idiot you can be sometimes, I'm probably the biggest advocate of you two being the best thing that happened to each other for, I don't know...**EVER!** Please man, for the sake of Zack's sanity, my thin patience and your entire body, quit it with the stupid bullshit and tell us the real reason why you asked Kim over your house. You're planning on having 'the talk', aren't you?", the man in red spilled out in a hasty fashion while Zack nodded his head in agreement, leaving Tommy in a less than favorable position. The two of them had his back against the wall in the figurative sense, but Tommy being Tommy, he certainly wasn't gonna go down without a fight first.

"If you think that I offered my place to her as a means of getting 'the talk' out of the way", he started, using air quotations to describe the aforementioned moment that would be happening, "Then you're freaking crazier than I thought you were, bro. That will happen when it happens. Right now, it's all about getting settled and thinking ahead to what will happen next, because you know how Zedd works. You never know when he's gonna strike next", Tommy finished his sentence with conviction while Zack's eye twitched and Jason had to put his hand on his friend's shoulder, squeezing down on it hard so that he didn't do anything rash and nutty. "What's your beef, Zack?"

Zack then forced a laugh, which then led to Jason laughing, and then finally Tommy joined in for the sake of laughing because his two friends were. Tommy managed to sneak a look of Aisha looking his way as her and Trini were having a talk with Kim, probably over the same thing. The laughing then abruptly ceased and Zack stared at his friend in white, eyes never wavering, jaw clenched and lips pursed as Tommy suddenly felt a little uncomfortable by the sudden change in demeanor from his friend.

"Seriously, quit it with the crap, dude. Stop playing us like we're idiots. We were on the same damn team, we know each other up and down, left and right, forward and backward. I know just as much about you and her as Jase here does, and I'm so sick and tired of seeing you two act so damn miserable around each other. It brings you down, it brings her down, it brings Jase down....for the love of God, man, it brings everyone _around_ you two down. I saw what you two shared for almost two years before Switzerland came a' callin. You two are meant for each other. You two are supposed to be happy together. I saw how you two did out there last night, and damn it if it didn't feel like it was like old times, watching the two of you weave your magic against those clay brains and feather heads. Hell, if I remember correctly, a certain doctor once told me that the White and Pink Rangers were always meant to be one with each other. Now if you still tell me that you inviting the girl that I know you still harbor feelings for into your house simply to help her avoid a long drive back to AG, I am going to shove my foot so far up your ass, you're gonna be using my shoe laces to floss and brush your teeth with", Zack finished with the tenacity that he had always been known for, leaving Jason to beam widely and proudly and Tommy feeling like...well, a complete and total idiot. Zack had managed to figure him out in less than twenty five minutes, and it left him floored.

"I'm doing it because...because...I'm the leader and I need to set a good example for everyone on the team", Tommy said lamely as Zack shook his head and cursed under his breath, walking away.

"I'm not running away from anything, Jase. You know that better than anyone. I never ran away from anything, I never have and I never will. I need to reassert myself as the leader, and by doing this, I am. Please understand that", Tommy near pleaded with his best friend as Jason rolled his eyes in annoyance and began to walk away in Zack's direction. "You understand, right?", Tommy asked as Jason turned around and sighed.

"You know, I really didn't want to say this to you...but you lied, bro", he murmured, a sad look on his face while doing so.

"What do you mean, I lied? Lied about what?", the Falcon asked in a confused tone.

"You're right. You may have never run away from a battle, or anything like that...but when you got that letter....you ran away from your fears and your insecurities. You ran far, far away and didn't want to face the truth. You ran away because you didn't want to seek the answers you deserved. You gave up, Tommy. And you ran away. I'm sorry", he said wistfully as he turned on his heel and walked off towards Zack, his head hung low as Tommy stood there, face expressionless, but feeling like he had just gotten his heart and soul drop kicked into the toilet as he watched Kimberly walk by a few feet away, grumbling to herself as she texted fiercly on her phone. He was absolutely gutted by that last statement. All he heard was the words spoken by Billy and Katherine as he sat down on the edge of the steps leading up to the stage, his head hung low and eyes shut tightly, lost in his world, the dark corners that he made his home when he got the letter slowly starting to creep back.

"What was that all about?", Billy asked.

"With those two, who knows anymore", Katherine responded.

Who really **did** know anymore?

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"I hate my life right now..."

"Dude, c'mon, lighten up..."

"I said that I was sorry! Sheesh!"

"I hope that Kira's cat is alright...."

The mood was less than cheery for the three remaining Dino Rangers and their female companion, the original Pink Ranger's niece. Ethan was on the verge of strangling Conner because he just wouldn't shut up (what else was new?), Trent was doing his best to prevent his friend in blue from going off on a mass murdering spree (what else was new?), Conner was trying to apologize but came off as even more annoying (what else was new?), and Nevaeh was hoping that Kira's cat, Lila, was ok, seeing as that was the reason for Kira running off and leaving her in the company of the boys (if she only knew what they knew). The four of them were now making the trek back to Hayley's after Nevaeh received a text from her 'aunt', telling her to hurry back. They were no less than fifteen minutes away when Ethan stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and just stared, his jaw clenched and fists balled up, seemingly having had enough with Conner. Oh boy.

"Conner, for the love of god, if you don't shut your mouth within the next five to ten seconds, I'll shut it for you, and you know I will. Don't make me whip out my--", he went to say before Trent covered his mouth and all that could be heard was muffled noises. Nevaeh, obviously confused, scratched her head and raised an eyebrow, while Conner backed off and raised his hands, as if to protect himself from Ethan.

"Seriously Conner, just can it. You almost got us in trouble earlier, please stop. I can only contain Ethan for so long before he becomes too much to handle", the White Dino Ranger said as calmly as possible, Ethan deeply breathing in order to calm himself so that their walk could continue.

"Whip out your what? Your member?", Nevaeh asked innocently, Conner and Ethan's eyes growing wide while Trent began to burst out in fits of hysterical laughter, walking over to a mail box and using it to support himself so that he didn't fall over from the laughing. Ethan's jaw hung open, as if it would fall down to the ground at any moment while Conner shook his head violently and muttered denials under his breath. She said nothing while she watched Trent continue to laugh, his face turning redder and redder, before he forced himself to stop for the sake of breathing. Obviously, he had found it very funny. Conner and Ethan, not so much.

"Uh, no, Nevaeh....whip out my...cell phone. Yeah, my cell phone! So, you know, if Conner acted up, I could pistol whip him with it", Ethan said somewhat lamely as he couldn't get over the fact that the first Pink Ranger's niece thought that he was gay. Not that there was anything wrong with gay people (as he had met quite a few from his days in college), but he still been talking to Cassidy on and off, and was actually planning on seeing her in a few days for lunch. Part of him found this entire thing funny, but the majority was shocked and vehemently denying what had been said.

Meanwhile, Conner kept shaking his head like he was violently getting whipped around in the air like a rag doll. Him, into other boys? No way. He was Conner McKnight, total chick magnet and soccer star in the making! He wasn't like that, nu uh. He even went out of his way to boast about how many girls he had dated since graduating, yet why did she feel the need to make that comment? Oh well. It was no big deal. He knew the truth. She probably only said it to be funny, he mused to himself as he ceased his freaking out and said the only thing that came to mind.

"I'm not gay."

Now it Ethan's turn to start laughing hysterically alongside Trent, the boy in blue pounding his fist on the hood of a nearby car while the boy in white, who had regained his composure, lost it again and was hanging back over the mail box, panting and coughing as the laughter came out, his need for air apparent as he stopped again, but Ethan kept going, eyes watering and smacking his hand on the hood. Nevaeh began to giggle herself at the sheer absurdity of the situation, her face turning a light shade of pink while Conner shrugged his shoulders and muttered something incoherently to himself under his breath, continuing to walk towards Hayley's and leaving his friends behind. Ethan and Trent managed to finally get themselves back together and followed after him, but Nevaeh stayed behind, frozen to the spot she stood at.

She turned her head and looked into the alley to her right. She thought she had heard something come from that direction, so being the curious girl she was for her age, she decided to go see what the reason for the sound was. The boys voices got fainter and fainter with each step she took into the darkness of the alley. She heard the sound again. It sounded like a voice, someone calling for her. Oddly and eerily enough, it almost sounded like her mother....like her mother was hurt, and she needed her daughter's help. Her heartbeat quickened and her forward movement was a little faster as the voice got louder and louder in her head. Right before she could reach the point of the voice, she felt a tug on her arm and shoulder, letting out a scream as she was whipped around to see who it was that was behind her. For a second she saw darkness, but her fears subsided when she heard Trent's calming voice.

"Hey, what're you doing here by yourself in this dark alley?", he asked her as her nerves relaxed and she eased up, shirking his hand away and straightening herself up, noticing that Ethan and Conner were behind him as well.

"Oh, you know. Us Hart's like to explore the unknown", she murmured timidly as her cheeks flushed and the boys led her out of the dark alley. Once they were back on the street and in the light of the street lamps, they continued the walk towards Hayley's, which was only a couple of blocks away. Nevaeh turned her head as she walked behind the boys, that voice distinctly lingering in her thoughts; she couldn't shake it, and it began to bother her a little bit. But she wasn't the only one who was distressed. Though Ethan and Conner hadn't picked up on it (probably because they were trying not to kill each other when she said it, or they simply weren't paying attention), Trent sensed something in Nevaeh's voice when she said 'Us Hart's.' He knew that you could obviously be someone's niece and share the same last name as said aunt, but the way it rolled off her tongue made him wonder about something, something that was ridiculous in theory, but not out of the realm of possibility.

Was Nevaeh....Kimberly's daughter? Though he had met the original Pink Ranger briefly when they were at Hayley's before, he had gotten a bit of a feel for the kind of person she was, and he could easily trace those qualities and traits to Nevaeh. Some physical qualities were also apparent between the two...but Trent didn't know, didn't want to assume anything. He thought it was rather other-worldly for him to think that this girl could possibly be Kimberly's daughter. Maybe he was just imagining it. But it also raised another intriguing question; If Nevaeh was indeed Kimberly's daughter...who the hell was her father? He couldn't shake these thoughts at all as the four of them finally reached the front doors of Hayley's, with Kira walking over to them and asking for the status report, with Ethan wasting no time in telling her of how he was 'this close' to killing Conner and burying him in the middle of Reefside Part, using hand gestures and flailing his arms all over the place, while Conner maintained his silly innocence, that he didn't do anything completely wrong, to which Ethan glared at him and Kira laughed at their seemingly endless routine.

Trent stepped aside from his three best friends and watched with great intrigue as Nevaeh ran towards Kimberly and practically leaped into her arms, the two of them hugging each other fiercely as everyone else around the two girls continued on with what they were doing. Finally, the smaller girl let go and began to excitedly talk about how great her day was and how she had gotten new friends in Trent, Ethan, Conner and Kira. She noticed Trent watching them and pointed to him, waving frantically and smiling brightly as Kimberly looked in his direction, uneasily doing the same. "She must sense that I have that feeling", he said to himself as he returned the favor, watching the first Pink Ranger and her 'niece' continue to talk. He couldn't shake the sensibility that the little girl might just be the daughter of the original Pink Ranger. He knew it really wasn't his business to pry and investigate, but he felt like he should find out, if only to confirm or deny his own thoughts. Trent overheard Kira mention something about Nevaeh crashing at her place while Kimberly was staying at Dr. O's. That also raised his intrigue quite a bit, but that was another story for another day. He felt a hand clasp his shoulder and saw that it was Conner, and he was soon jarred from his thoughts. Maybe he wouldn't find out tonight, but soon, when the timing was right. Maybe.

Back in the dark alley that the three Dino Rangers and Nevaeh found themselves in mere minutes ago, a pair of bright neon green eyes flickered open, followed by an equally bright, but more disgusting tongue of the same color licking it's lips, dark blue saliva dripping from it's jangled, decaying and rancid teeth.

"Time issss of the essssence, Power Rangersssss.....and your time issss going to run out.....very ssssoon!"

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

The moon shone brightly down upon the floor inside the chamber of command. Wheels turned in motion in the background as faint steps could be heard coming from the west wing, along with chatter that was in-cohesive. Not everything had been stellar in the forty eight hours since the Dark Lord Of Evil had appeared in Angel Grove for the first time since 1996. In fact, things, which had started out so promising for the three people who took refuge here on this resurrected castle on the Moon, went downhill with the re-appearance of their long time hated foes. The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. Oh, how Lord Zedd wished he could kill them all with one blast of his Z-Staff. Alas, it wasn't that easy....and it never would be.

Lord Zedd was not pleased when he saw the Power Rangers once more, wielding that damn Great Power of the Ninjetti again, prancing and flipping around like they were teenagers in high school like it was the past. He was not pleased when they easily disposed of his Putties and Tengas. And he was downright furious when he found out that the Power Rangers he saw were the same six 'pieces of shit', as he put it, that plagued his earlier life and reign as Lord Of Darkness, were the ones holding the power again and ruining his plans. Of course, he refused to take the blame for his early plans failing, opting to, like he used to back when he first reigned supreme, blame it on his two lackeys.

He had also been hoping that his newest monster, a deadly creature he dubbed the 'Khameleon Killer', had gotten the Pink Ranger's daughter, but alas, the White Ranger's own team of Rangers, the Dino Rangers as they had been called, stopped her before she could meet the cold claws of evil and death. He stopped in his chamber of command and saw the planet called Earth in the distance in front of him. Behind him, Goldar and Rito Revolto stopped their chattering and stood at attention to their leader and master. Turning to face the bumbling morons he brought with him everywhere, Zedd could only think of one thing to say to the two of them.

"I can't believe you let the girl get away", he slowly sneered as Goldar lowered his head in defeat and Rito turned away, muttering something to himself incoherently as if the whole reason why the monster he had created didn't snatch the Pink Ranger's daughter was, indeed, their fault. Bowing their heads in defeat, this was a routine that was all too familiar for the gold plated monkey and his skeletal partner as they slowly trudged behind their master, Goldar deciding it would be best to speak up and apologize for the failed kidnapping of the Pink Ranger's daughter.

"My lord, I am sorry for the Khameleon Killer not being able to capture the Pink Ranger's daughter. Please my lord, give me another chance to show you that we can defeat and kill the Power Rangers! Let me prove that I am worthy!"

"Yeah Ed, what he said! Er, I meant Zedd, yeah, Zedd!"

But instead of berating Rito like he normally would, Zedd merely turned around, faced him and shook his head, sneering as he turned back around and walked into his chamber, sitting down in his throne, tapping the arm rest as his minions followed behind him and stood before him. It was just turning out to be like old times, and far too quickly for Zedd's tastes, and frankly, it was starting to piss him off. He was almost certain he had the little girl in his clutches; he could almost taste it when she was mere inches away from his monster's grasp. But it was those irritable tapeworms called the Dino Rangers that stopped this plan, and now, having two generations of those punks was more than enough to cause massive migraines for the Dark Lord of Evil. Having not come up with any reasonable answer to the question he had asked himself (How the hell do I defeat those damn Power Rangers!?), he looked to Goldar and Rito, and, maybe thinking that for once in their pathetic lives, they had come up with something coherent enough in the form of a plan, that it might, just might be crazy enough to work.

"I don't believe this...I come back....I literally raise hell on Earth....I suffocate those insufferable bastard Power Rangers...I kill their pathetic civilians and wound countless more....I destroy their precious high school reunion bullshit...and they somehow manage to regain the Great Power and throw it back in my face....and now, those fucking Dino Pukes that belong to the White Ranger....if I could, I'd kill them all right now...."

Although too timid at first to speak, Rito and Goldar looked to each other and knew what the implications of whatever they said would be. They knew that their leader and master might very well berate them verbally and kick the crap out of them physically if they were to say something he deemed downright stupid and idiotic. It was a big reason why they normally left the planning up to him, often giving very little input back in the old days, and it was a role they were starting to slide back into almost effortlessly. But now he was seemingly asking them for help, and they didn't know what to say; a decade ago, whenever they gave input, they were berated by him and often smacked around by that annoying twit Rita and her magic wand. Oh, the beatings those two suffered at the hands of her, how they were both glad she wasn't around anymore, though it was alarming whenever they would catch Zedd often wondering aloud, to himself, where his dearly departed wife was, and how he was going to find her. Rito was her brother and he found it down right creepy that he missed her; after all, how could anyone grow to like her?

Nonetheless, Zedd was now looking to the two of them, almost daring them to speak and offer any insight on what they could do to the Power Rangers to ruin their day. Hesitating for the slightest of moments, Goldar came up with a hair brained scheme that sounded ridiculous, even to him. But he saw something in the White Ranger that reminded him of the past, and since all three of them were basically trying to recoup as much information from said past about themselves and the Rangers, seeing the leader and the man who bore the falcon on his chest fight lit a light in Goldar's brain that almost forced him to speak out.

"My lord....I know this may sound a little....out there, but if you would just hear me out, it may make even a little bit of sense to you....", he began as Rito prepared to brace himself for the inevitable outburst from Lord Zedd that was sure to follow when Goldar finished talking.

"Just spit it out, you gold plated baboon", Zedd spoke as his fingers tapped the arm rest on his throne, looking bored and managing to be at his wits end already, despite only being back in charge for a mere two days.

"Perhaps we should amass an army of soldiers and go back in time...and steal back the powers of the Green Ranger...me and Rito could go back and do so, while you remain here on the moon and continually wear the Rangers down until we return....the Green Ranger powers would do us a world of good in taking down those goody goodies...."

Zedd sat upright in his chair and looked at Goldar like he was a certifiable genius. He then looked at Rito, who was still cowering in fear, waiting for an outburst of rage that was, surprisingly, never going to come. He sat up and then banged his Z-Staff down on the cold floor, sparks shooting out everywhere, letting out a bellowing laughter, one that would have sent chills up the spine of anyone else, had the two of them not been so used to it by now.

"That's a brilliant idea! I'm glad I came up with it! I can dig up the ashes of that annoyance Finster and he can make me a time machine to go back to...what time period was it?"

"Colonial Angel Grove, I believe, my lord...."

**"THAT'S IT! HAHAHAHA! THE POWER RANGERS ARE FINISHED!"**

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Sooo.....crazy weather we've been having lately, huh?"

Ever since the two of them had arrived at Tommy's house deep in the woods of Reefside, the address 2020 Valencia Road, not a word had been spoken between him and Kimberly until now. They didn't say a word to each other at Hayley's, spare for him mustering the courage to ask her over to his house, alone. They didn't utter a peep during the car ride home. And now, a full hour had passed since they had gotten here, and they still didn't say one word to the other. Tommy went about looking around the downstairs Command Center for 'some stuff' (which Kimberly translated as him being too nervous to make the first move again, something she found a bit cute, considering he was exactly like that back in high school) , and Kimberly took it upon herself to look around and admire the place that Tommy crashed at before he, Jason and Rocky opened their dojo in Angel Grove (which Tommy translated as her being too afraid to say anything to him in his own house and thus wandered around, looking at everything while thinking of something to say, which he found amusing, considering she was never like that in high school).

But now, enough time had passed and the silence was slowly killing them, eating away at their insides, their minds and hearts screaming at them to say something, _anything_, so that they could stop beating around the bush and sit around waiting for something to happen. Tommy, by now, had gone back upstairs and was taking refuge in his kitchen, sipping on a bottle of water and watching the news on the television on his counter. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Kimberly walk down the steps from the upstairs and open the window, to let the cool June breeze in through the living room. The sun had long faded by now, and the stars were scattered amongst the sky, and as the full moon shone through the open window and onto Kimberly's figure, Tommy was amazed to find that, even after all these years, even after all the hell she had put him through, after the letter, Muranthias, nearly killing him, and then, after he had reached out to her after it was over, she bolted for Florida again for the next eleven years....even after all these years, Tommy was still amazed to find that Kimberly commanded his undivided attention without her even knowing it.

And he hated her so much for it. So, so much. She may never know truly how much, but she had to have an inkling; how could she not, after the way he had been acting towards her for the past two days since everything went to hell again? From the moment he saw her arrive at the reunion in the gym, the moment she walked back into his life just like she had walked out of it, with a smile on her face and those beautiful chocolate locks of hair, her brown doe eyes, wearing pink, his own eyes were on one thing and one thing only; her. And that was why he hated her for doing this to him. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how much he wanted to distract himself with something else, wanted to divert his attention to anything, he always found his eyes wandering back to her.

Which was why the first words out of his mouth made him want to smack himself repeatedly and viciously. The puzzled look on Kimberly's face told the story.

"What?", was the first word out of her mouth, and the self-beating Tommy wanted to give himself only intensified twofold at that moment. Of all the things in the world to say to her, he asked her about the fucking weather? If there was ever a moment where he wished that Zedd would interfere or Mondo or Rita would come back from the dead and send down a goofy monster for them to combat, now would be it. But that wasn't in the cards at the moment for Tommy, or for Kimberly.

No, whether they liked it or not, they were going to sit down and....talk. (!!!!)

"The weather....you know....it's been uh...crazy, y'know? California and all....monsters are back....they mess up the weather patterns...", Tommy managed to stumble and bumble his way through that sentence, and it became quickly apparent to himself and to Kimberly he was doing himself no favors whatsoever by acting like a complete and utter fool (though idiot or moron would of been better suited at this point). Kimberly tried hard not to laugh at how ridiculous her former love sounded, resisting the urge by biting her lip and looking out the window until her cheeks stopped blushing. And there was the problem, for her.

He was still making her blush. They hadn't seen each other in person in eleven years, hadn't talked in over a decade, and it had been nearly thirteen years (ironic) since the infamous letter she had sent him, and yet, despite him acting like a goof, he was still making her blush, making her feel like a giddy little girl inside, still giving her those same butterflies in her stomach that she had when they first met on that fated day during their freshmen year at Angel Grove High. She couldn't believe he was still able to do this to her. Did she hate him for it? A little bit, yeah. How could she not? It took most guys she met months to make her feel the way she was feeling right now, and now she had seen Tommy for all of two days after eleven years of not seeing him and he was immediately doing it all over again. Did she wish she didn't feel this way when around him? Absolutely. She should be angry at him, furious at how he was acting towards her the past two days, when everything and everyone was supposed to be joyous about being the god damn Power Rangers again, and the feeling of being alive that came with holding the Great Power again. Was this getting her anywhere in her pursuit of closure and maybe seeing if the old flame could possibly be rekindled? Not at all.

But she still couldn't believe it.

"Um....yeah, I guess?", was all she could manage for a response, as she was literally seconds away from bursting out into fits of laughter if he kept going at the pace he was. She turned to face the outside world again, the light breeze causing the curtains to glide almost, tickling her skin, the crickets chirping, the moon shining down on her figure. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Tommy momentarily glancing at her, before turning away like he wasn't just staring her up and down. A tiny smile crept across her lips as she did her best to cover it up. She could still manage to wrap him around her finger without ever knowing it.

"Yeah...you know, it's uh, lot crazier over here on the West Coast than it is in Florida....well, I'm guessing it is, seeing as Florida's not really a hotbed for monsters or evil lords of darkness...yeah...I'm going to go to the kitchen and uh...make some coffee....you want some? Good", he murmured almost to himself as he stood up and quickly bolted towards the kitchen, leaving Kimberly to her own devices in the living room once again. She adjusted herself in her seat and peeked into the kitchen, where she saw Tommy hovering over the sink, his face as red as the costume he used to wear at one point, cursing himself, and this time, the smile on her lips was much bigger than she expected it to be. She watched as he bumbled through the kitchen, looking for the coffee pot and the beans, and she got a bit of joy out of watching all this unfold, as kitchen appliances went everywhere with loud clangs and crashes, knowing that she was partly responsible for Tommy acting this way.

"Do you, um, need any help in there?", she asked innocently as Tommy turned to look at her, his face still red with embarrassment as he held a pot in one hand and a half opened bag of coffee beans which had now spilled over the floor in the other hand.

"No! No, no, no, I'm doing just great, I don't need any help, just...sit there, I won't be much longer. Just stay there, will ya?", he asked in a somewhat harsh tone as he scrambled to pick up the remnants of the coffee beans from his floor and hastily toss them out in the garbage. His back turned to her, he walked to a part of the kitchen where she couldn't see him, and he slouched over the dish rack, looking out the window into his spacious backyard and the woods that accompanied it. Part of him just wanted to leap through the glass and run, run till he could go no more, and not have to face the imminent talk that was looming ever so closely. But he knew better than that. He had spent years running away from the truth, never once stopping to ask for the answers he deserved, instead just running as far away as he could so he could deal with it on his own and move on from there. That was how Tommy always solved his problems; he secluded himself from his friends, the ones who would take a bullet for him, and coped with the problem on his own. He'd then return and act as if nothing ever happened. Jason's words from before rang in his head like an annoying cell phone ring tone, and as much as Tommy didn't want to admit it, his best friend was right; Tommy did run away after he had gotten the letter. His friends tried to be there for him, but Adam, Rocky, Tanya and Kat didn't know how Tommy operated like Billy and Jason did; they held back and let Tommy work it out on his own, though they didn't want to. They wanted so badly to be there for their leader, but he would constantly shit them all out. Billy tried his best to be there for him, but he had never really outgrown his social awkwardness and he felt pitiful for not helping one of his best friends out, and before long, Billy was gone, off to Aquitar. Jason tried to glue the broken pieces back together when he brought Kim to Angel Grove for a visit, but everyone knew how that ended. The images of his best friend and first love dangling over a pit of lava, then being turned evil were still fresh in Tommy's head, years after the fact. When presented with the perfect opportunity to make amends with Kimberly, Tommy ran again, this time with Kat by his side, the girl who, try as she might, would never replace Kimberly in his heart. It wasn't that Kat wasn't a great girl, because she was. She just...wasn't Kimberly. And Kat had grown to accept it. Besides, she was happy with who she always destined to belong with; Jason.

But now, running away just wasn't going to cut it anymore. Here Kimberly was, sitting in his damn living room, looking as gorgeous as she ever had, now back in his life, seemingly for good, considering they were a team again. There was no going back to Florida for her, he thought. There was no reason for him to hide again, he knew this. She knew this as well. He had a bit of a feeling that she knew why he had asked her here. She had to. She was a smart girl, so naturally she was able to figure out his intentions. Right? He hoped so.

Finally getting his bearings, Tommy managed to begin the process of making the coffee for the two of them, before turning around and looking out at Kimberly in the living room. Part of him, however tiny it may be, wanted to just take her and never let go, to reclaim what they both once had in their youth. But he knew better. He knew that it could never be resurrected, the love they once shared, all those memories, everything. Could it be?

Amazingly, that was a question he didn't want to find out the answer to.

"Well uh, the coffee's going, should be ready in a few minutes, I guess....", Tommy said somewhat more coherently this time as he wandered back into the living room, making sure to lock and double lock the front door for no reason other than to make sure he slept easy at night, which was going to be impossible, all things considered. Sitting down on the couch across from Kimberly again, Tommy's eyes looked everywhere but in her direction, waiting to carefully pick his spot and begin the talk that had been looming over both their heads for over a decade.

"Decaf, I hope", Kimberly responded as she kept her eyes solely fixated on Tommy, deciding that if he wasn't going to look at her, she was damn well going to look at him. Not that she minded, anyways. Despite everything that had happened, she was, needless to say, impressed that he kept himself in great shape, but had also somehow managed to become hotter. Though she hadn't seen it in person, she saw pictures of him with his hair spiked, and she thought it looked cute on him, but now that he had his long hair again? It was something she enjoyed. She remembered when they were in high school, kids would say that his hair was better looking than hers! She also remembered sitting on the grass in Angel Grove Park, his arms wrapped around her, hair dangling down, with her twirling his hair around her finger, recalling how much she enjoyed playing with it....and now she was getting off topic when she couldn't afford to do so.

"You know it", he responded, and for a moment, Tommy looked up and his eyes met Kimberly's; decaf coffee was always her favorite. **Damn!** He had walked right into that and now he was wanting to kick himself in the ass even harder than before when he made the stupid weather comment. Why did he have the curse of word vomit all of a sudden?

"Good to see you remembered one thing", Kimberly said back as she cracked a grin at Tommy's face turning red again. "I thought that the God's of remembrance would forever keep you spinning in circles."

"Those would be the God's of time management. My memory's gotten better ever since I became a teacher, thank you very much."

"But wait, didn't you give up being a teacher to run the dojo and grow your hair back out again?"

"Why would you care if I gave teaching up? I did that for reasons that you wouldn't even begin to comprehend."

"Oh, really? Because I'm pretty sure I went through the same thing you did at some point."

"You're bluffing."

"Ask Katherine. She'll tell you differently."

The two of them were now staring at each other as their words rolled effortlessly off their tongues, and for a moment, the two of them thought the same thing; they were talking, so therefore, progress was being made, baby step by baby step. Surprisingly, their words were not cold, nor were they especially malicious or harsh. They were spoken calmly, which was what really was amazing, given the circumstance and the history between the White and Pink Power Rangers.

"You mean to tell me that you went on that same journey?"

"I was on the original team long before you ever showed up. I had the premonition too. Of course I went. Didn't like it one bit, but I went anyways."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"You weren't even a member of the team at first, remember?"

"I try not to, so I'd like it if you didn't dig up my murderous first days as a Power Ranger, thanks."

"I'm just saying, is all. It was a while before you showed up."

"That's true, but if I remember correctly, who was it that was always called upon when you guys and the Megazord needed help? That's right, me and Mr. Dragonzord, that's right!"

"I destroyed my fair share of monsters, thanks!"

"I destroyed about twelve times as much as that."

"Now you're getting cocky, huh?"

"Not cocky. Just facts."

"My Zords were cooler."

"And that's not childish how?"

"Well it's true! I totally had the coolest Zords out of everyone on the team."

"I had the Dragonzord. And then the Tigerzord. And then the Falconzord. And then the White Shogunzord. Not to mention my Zeo Zord and Red Lightning. Explain how your Zords were cooler than mine?"

"Show off."

"Not my fault I had the neat robots with the high tech weaponry and other stuff."

"Wait....we shared the White Shogunzord!"

"Yeah, for about a week and a half before...."

Now they were getting somewhere, treading dangerously close to the once off-limit topic of the dreaded state of Florida and the reasons for why Kimberly ever left the team and Angel Grove in the first place. Tommy knew that this was bound to happen, and Kimberly knew it too. They stopped talking that very instant, the air growing quite silent, but thick to the point where you could cut it with a knife or two. They looked at each other, almost daring the other to walk the line and jump into those dangerous waters, not wanting to cave and begin the talk that they so desperately needed to have. Tommy let out a sigh as he ran a hand through his pony tailed hair, shoulders slumped, feeling exhausted from the past two and a half, nearly three days. Kimberly looked worse for wear as well, her hair looking a little frazzled and heavy bags underneath her eyes, but she was putting on a brave face for this occasion. Luckily, before either one of them could open up the old wound and dive headfirst into it with salt shakers, a beep was heard coming from the kitchen, signifying that the coffee was now finally done. Tommy, a look of relief now washed over his face, quickly got up and scurried towards the kitchen, thankful the momentary distraction. But this time, instead of staying behind in the living room while he went about business in the kitchen, Kimberly got up off the couch and met him in the kitchen as he was pouring the coffee into the mugs. He just about spilled the hot liquid all over himself when he saw her walk in, and now he knew.

She was here to play ball.

"May I ask what you're doing here? I said I'd be right back", Tommy muttered, almost to himself, as he grabbed some half & half and some sugar, mixing them in with his coffee, grumbling underneath his breath the entire time as Kim took a spoon from the drawer and swirled it around in her own mug.

"Actually, you didn't say anything, which is why I came in here. Can't have you doing everything all by yourself, now can I?", Kimberly said in a teasing tone as Tommy's face turned even redder than before, far past the shade of the costume he once wore.

"_You're_ the guest, I'm supposed to be taking care of _you_", he said through gritted teeth as he finished making his coffee just the way he liked it, not looking in her direction as he began to put everything back where it belonged.

"You've taken enough care of me over the years, let me return the favor for once", she said as she grabbed the contents of the coffee maker and the bag of beans, putting them back where they belonged, all while watching and smirking as Tommy stopped dead in his tracks. While she enjoyed playing these little games with him, eventually, she had to get down to business.

"Whatever works for you, I don't care", Tommy said as he bitterly sipped from his mug and walked back into the living room, plopping down on the couch, amazed that she was doing this to him in his own house. She knew he was a bit vulnerable right now, having made the first move before at Hayley's, having put himself out there for her and given her the heads up that, yeah, eventually, her being here in his house would lead to the talk happening.

"Aw come on, lighten up. Why so angsty all of a sudden?", she asked innocently enough as she followed suit and sat down on the couch across from him once more, holding her mug in her right hand while using her left hand to brush away some loose strands of hair as she glanced at Tommy before taking a sip.

"What's it to you?, he muttered to himself as he took another swig then sat back on the couch, staring up at the ceiling and letting out a frustrated sigh. Why did these kinds of things always seem to happen to only him?

"Well, you are the leader of the team, and I am kind of like your second in command, so naturally, I'd be a tad worried about how the man in white was doing, you know?", she said sweetly as she curled her leg up against her lower body and leaned against the arm rest on the end of the couch, holding her mug as Tommy shot her the look of death. She smiled once more as she remembered how cute he looked when he was angry like this.

"Second in command? That'd be Rocky. You know, since he's wearing red. It comes with the territory, you know how it goes", he mumbled, his icy glare shooting daggers at her, but true to her ways, she batted the daggers away and kept smiling, kept playing games with him, and he was starting to grow sick of it.

"Oh yeah, I forgot....but, I mean, don't get me wrong, I love Rocky and all, but sometimes it just slips my mind that he's automatically the second in command because of what color he wears...I think you're forgetfulness is starting to rub off on me", she said almost tauntingly, content to keep the games up for however long she needed to until he would crack. But knowing Tommy as well as she did (or once did), he was as stubborn as she was, so she prepared herself for the long haul if need be.

"Cute, real cute. You're still as much a joker now as you were then. I guess some things never change, huh?"

"And you're still a stubborn old mule, so yeah, I guess you're right when you say that some things never change."

And for some reason....that was all Tommy could stand to take anymore. He violently shook his head and then forcefully slammed his coffee mug down on a nearby table, jaw jutting out as if he wanted to scream, but he didn't. He was sick of the games, sick of the jokes; he just wanted to get down to god damn business and she was playing the same damn card she'd play back in high school, the cute, innocent, playful super hot girl that would manage to wrap him around her finger by merely looking in his general direction. She was deliberately doing this, and it pissed him off. All he wanted to do was get this god damn talk over with so he could get the answers he had been seeking for more than a decade, find the closure he so desperately needed and deserved, and then move on as best as he could from the mess and lead the team as well as he could, with or without her as the Pink Ranger.

A look of concern immediately washed over Kimberly's features as she saw Tommy slam the mug down and look like he was about ready to go back to spiky hair through his own means, and she now began to think that maybe, just maybe, she had gone a little too far with all the joking and trying to act like it was high school all over again. For a moment, she thought that Tommy might actually strike her, but she knew better than that, she knew that he'd never do that to her, no matter how much he hated her at the moment. Placing her own mug down, she moved forward and sat on the end of the couch, looking at Tommy, trying to get anything from his eyes, looking to see what he was really thinking, but he turned his back before she could get a good look.

"I can't do this anymore", he suddenly blurted as he turned around to face her, frustration evident. "I can't continue to try and play along with these games that you so like to play all the time, I just can't do it anymore. I used to be able to, but that was a different point in my life where I was young, stupid, naive and I didn't know any better. Damn it, Kimberly, just stop. I don't want to fucking play games. You know why you're here, I know why you're here, so why don't we just cut to the damn chase and get it over with?"

To say that Kimberly was taken back by what Tommy had just said would be a little bit of an understatement. Oh yeah, she had known why she had been asked here, by herself, all the way out in the woods to Tommy's house. She knew that he wanted the talk to happen, and she wanted it just as much as he did, if not more. But the anger, the hurt behind his voice, she felt a pang of guilt in her heart, knowing that she was responsible for most of the hurt he had been suffering, if not responsible for all of it. And it was all because of a few lines written down on a piece of paper that she never wanted to send in the first place....suddenly, she had decided to change her mind. He was too angry right now to have any kind of talk with, and she didn't want to poke and prod him anymore. What she was about to say was for his sake, not her's. She just hoped he would understand that she was putting aside her desires for his sanity right now.

"Well, if that's the way you want it, that's fine, Tommy. But believe me, you know better than anyone, when I'm not in the mood to do anything, and right now, I'm not in the mood....my head isn't all here. I know you want to talk about everything that's happened since that day over a decade or so ago, and trust me, I really want to talk too, but only when I'm in the right frame of mind, and I'm sorry Tommy, but right now, I'm not there yet, and quite frankly, you aren't either. I promise you, after a good night's sleep, we can talk all you want tomorrow morning during breakfast. We've got a lot to talk about, and it's going to take a while, but I hope, for both our sakes and for the sake of Billy, Adam, Rocky and Aisha, not to mention everyone else, that we both get what we want and it goes smoothly. That's all we can afford to ask for at this moment, Tommy, and you know this. I'm sorry, but I'm going to go to bed. I'll see you in the morning. Thank you again for letting me stay the night and for letting my niece stay with Kira. Good night."

And before Tommy could even get another word off, Kimberly was already up the steps and halfway down the hall towards Tommy's bedroom, which he had offered earlier when he originally asked her here back at Hayley's. Sitting down and lying back on the spacious couch she occupied mere minutes ago, Tommy heard his bedroom door close softly, with Kim now off to sleep. A couple of minutes later, Tommy began to doze off himself, knowing that, for better or worse, the talk was going to happen in a matter of hours.

And he was expecting it to be the most emotional talk he'd ever go through in his entire life.

**AN 3: R/R, hope you all enjoy!**


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